AutoCycle
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive. Frontier/Anime&Manga psuedo-cross
1. The IT Trade Fair

Author's Notes

Hi guys. Guess what? This is my summer project. Funny how summer break starts in spring. Now, the last time I started one, I finished it halfway through the second semester, ie. following spring, but I figured this one is a really good opportunity for me to explore some new manga and anime (more like old, but ones I haven't seen). Then I stated making a list, and it was rather pathetically small. This is also one of those times where my brain goes wild with ideas, so I'm afraid you'll all have to tolerate that. At least the summer break's almost here. Two and a half weeks of studying and exams, and I'm home free.

There's twenty animes/manga universes involved (hence the summary) but the characters from Frontier are the main guys. As for the other nineteen…you'll have to wait and see. The first one, well second, is revealed at the end of this chapter read the chapter first. It won't make a whole lot of sense otherwise.

Unfortunately, this is the setup chapter. Action starts soon though.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

The IT Trade Fair

'I can't believe you actually dragged us to this stupid fair,' Takuya grumbled, crossing his arms.

'You agreed,' JP snapped back, though he sounded happy enough, turning from the newest Windows model demonstration to look at his goggle-wearing friend. 'Besides, you weren't moaning and groaning when we saw that vacuum cleaner.'

'Moaning and groaning?' Koichi repeated from behind them, sounding like he was stifling a laugh. 'You make him sound like a zombie.'

'Or a ghoul,' Zoe agreed, not bothering to hide back her giggle. The large expo in Tokyo had invited them all out during their spring break to look at the latest computer software, electronic gadgets and games. Actually, JP and Tommy had invited the other four, but no-one had really needed much persuading.

Unfortunately, Takuya wasn't quite as interested in computer software as he was about the latest gizmos. Actually, JP was the only one interested in all that stuff. Tommy, like Takuya, preferred games, as did Koji. Zoe wasn't exactly passionate about any of them though she would give the boys a run for their money and then some in any action-packed endeavour, and Koichi really only knew enough about computers to be able to research, type, format and print his homework, but he didn't really need to with the commentaries he was receiving from his friends. Besides, the fair was a good opportunity for them to get together; they had planned to head over to a local food joint for some ramen later too. Two years after their adventures in the digital world and their friendship was still going strong, though they found it a tad difficult to meet up in person between JP's first year at senior high school and his part time job at an electronics store, Koichi living in a different province and almost four hours away from the rest and babysitting for the family that moved into the apartment above his, and Tommy's last year of elementary school and subsequent studying for the junior high entrance exams.

But they were all taking a break that day, and despite the good-natured teasing and grumbling, no-one really minded.

'Hey,' Tommy said suddenly, almost losing his orange hat as he pointed at an abnormally large crowd. 'I wonder what that is.'

'Let's look,' Takuya said brightly, eager to escape the word processor, the one part of computers he really _didn't _like, namely because he only ever wound up using it for homework.

The others followed, the twins unhurriedly following at the back as Koji whispered something to his brother and got a confused reply. He then sped up to whisper the same statement to Zoe up ahead, leaving the elder of the two twins hanging slightly behind.

'Seriously?' Zoe asked, craning her neck so she could see over the crowd. She, after a few attempts, spotted the devices the ex-warrior of light had been talking about. They looked like some sort of monitoring devices, each of the six attached like a cuff or clamp to a dummy wrist. They had small screens, looking somewhat like the five centimetre watches or bands some people wore on their wrists. Koji was wearing one now, only because it covered the bandage with covered his latest kendo injury. He was a good swordsman, so it wasn't all that common, but there were people, as there usually were, that kept him at the top of his game.

Not the game that apparently was being advertised though.

'Cool,' Tommy commented, finally getting a clear view as some adults moved out of the way, seeing one, a seventh, opened up and showcasing the complicated circuits within. It somewhat resembled the connections within the D-tectors…or so he thought; he couldn't tell the wires apart all that great. 'Is that a gadget for some new game? Or a promo?'

'Not at all young man,' an older man wearing a top hat, an oddity in itself, commented, almost making the small boy jump and earning a glare from Koji. 'My apologies, but I see you're interested in my latest creation.'

'What sort of creation?' the ex-warrior of fire asked enthusiastically.

'It's an ingenious device really,' the man said, grinning at the enthusiasm. 'It, simply put, allows one to virtually travel to other places: countries, worlds, universes…'

'Really,' Koji scoffed, sounding rather unbelieving.

'You don't believe in other forms of life young man?' the scientist asked, raising a brow.

The boy flushed awkwardly. 'It's not that,' he said hotly.

'Ah, you don't think I'm capable of pulling that of.' The man grinned. 'Truth be told, this is still a prototype. I've gotten animals back, but I'm looking for six volunteers to test them out, right here and now. Young people,' he added hurriedly. 'It's a bit of a shock to older minds.'

Funnily enough, most of the children and young teens were at the gaming section.

The man noted that and scratched his head. 'If only it hadn't taken all morning to set up,' he muttered, apparently having not noticed the elder twin…for a good reason, he was hidden behind JP's larger frame and having trouble squeezing anywhere else because of the crowd. His hearing on the other hand was not impaired, so it was that he heard Takuya's excited: 'we'll do it. Right guys?'

'Takuya,' the ex-warrior began, before almost falling when the crowd parted. 'Don't laugh,' he muttered to his brother.

'Oh come on,' the reckless and self-proclaimed leader of their group of six whined, a little like a child. 'It'll be fun.'

'It could also be dangerous,' the boy said quietly. 'It is a prototype after all.' He looked like he was going to continue, but reconsidered and stayed silent.

The man in the top hat tipped the head ornament. 'Don't worry young man,' he said. 'My hamsters haven't lost much more than a few meals in twenty cycles. I need humans just to get a report of the experience. Hamsters don't make too much of a conversation.'

Koichi still looked worried, but Tommy looked rather excited as well. 'Cycles?' he asked.

'Yep,' the man grinned, pointing through a gap in the crowd to the screen displayed on the bands. 'Set to twenty. Totally random. Random timings before a switch. Random settings, so you could wind up anywhere. I need to know what's out there before specifying the settings.'

JP and Zoe looked at each other, then at the twins, who while having not made eye contact, were both thinking the same thing. 'Aren't there regulations with this sort of thing?' Koji asked finally.

'Of course,' the man said, sounding a little offended. 'I've got special permission to run a full scale demonstration. It's passed the health and safety check, and the brief trials we've run have been a success.'

The elder boy shrugged at that. 'How long will it take?'

'In this here time, no more than ten minutes. Tops.'

'Don't tell me you're agreeing?' Koichi asked.

The ex-warrior of thunder shrugged again. 'Why not? Sounds fascinating.'

'That it does,' Koji said. 'And it looks like nothing is going to talk Takuya out of this.'

Zoe groaned and face-palmed her head, before sharing a look with the elder twin. 'I don't fancy being a guinea pig,' she admitted. 'But I have to admit, it does sound like an adventure.'

'Truthfully,' the ex-warrior of darkness muttered. 'That's what I'm afraid of.'

'Oh come on.' Takuya grinned. 'Remember the-?'

It was a little hard to kick discretely, but luckily, the yutakas made it that much easier. Takuya shut up immediately, before grasping a new train.

'Don't be a coward,' he quickly covered. 'Come on, it'll be fun. Just like the virtual world we went to last year.'

Koichi, being Koichi, didn't take offence like someone else would have. Which was rather fortunate. He bit his lip lightly, before shrugging. For some reason, his adventure in the digital world was stuck in his mind, more specifically how it had ended. It had taken some persuasion to convince him to go to the virtual world with them at that point as well, but it had all been fine. Perhaps he was overreacting.

'Hold out your hands then,' the scientist said, the crowd parting to let him through to the display case, which was actually far close than they had originally thought. They all did so, standing in a semi-circle around him

One by one, he clasped the devices onto their left wrists, watching them all lock into place. Each showed the same settings, screen reading 020.

'You mean this thing can take 999 cycles?' JP said, sounding awed.

'Well,' the man scratched his head. '20 is the maximum I've tried, but that's the idea.'

He flicked the screen off a small I-pad like device. 'All right,' he shouted, as the crowd gathered around. 'Five, four, three, two…ONE!'

The screens suddenly flashed a luminescent blue, before a sudden, larger burst swallowed the six up whole.

* * *

><p>'Ow…' Takuya moaned, trying to get up. 'For a virtual travel, that sure hurt.' He realised suddenly he couldn't. 'Who's on top of me?'<p>

'Me,' JP's voice answered him. 'Zoe, can you get off?'

'I'm stuck between you and Koji,' she responded. 'Tommy?'

'Stuck between you and Koichi,' he replied. 'Koichi?'

'Who in the world's on top of me then?' he wondered, before wriggling about…and falling off the human pyramid with all six bags. 'Oh.' A pause, then: 'ouch.'

With a little more wriggling, Tommy managed to get out from beneath Zoe's elbow, allowing Koji to squeeze out, then her, then JP, and finally the human pancake.

'Where are we?' Takuya groaned, once he finally got himself up. 'It looks like Japan, but I don't recognise this place.

The park looked normal enough, as did the streets, the people wandering them. Only, none of it was explicitly familiar.

'Let's see,' Zoe said allowed, reading the street labels. 'It says Domino High School's that way.'

'Domino?' Koji repeated. 'I've never heard of that.'

'Well, we are travelling across universes,' Takuya reminded.

Koichi had been sorting through the bags at that point in time. Evidently, some of their stuff had fallen out. 'Hey,' he said suddenly. 'Do these belong to anyone?'

The other five blinked at the six mechanical devices, able to be strapped to an arm with a record system and five zones, each device holding a deck of cards in them. Then they all shook their heads.


	2. Domino City

Author's Notes

Each world have different assortments of anime. In the frontier world, some of the worlds they'll visit are animes in their world, so they'll be somewhat familiar. The first two for example, and as Asarikou-chan and Kaito Lune accurately guessed, it's the Yu Gi Oh world first up.

I somewhat changed Saturn's effect. The OTC effect is "While your life points are higher than your opponent's, you can tribute this card to inflict damage to your opponent equal to the difference. If you do not control a face up "The Sanctuary in the Sky", this effect is not applied. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this effect." I ignored the first part, the "life points higher than opponent's" to make the effect more versatile.

The next chapter continues from this one, so it has the duel we missed out. This chapter was just getting too long.

Enjoy. And I'll get to replying those messages when it's not 1am in the morning.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

Domino City

The six stared at the odd contraptions lying scattered amongst the remainder of their belongings, mainly yen notes scattered about. Luckily, there was very little, if any, wind, so the flimsy papers weren't scattering about.

'How about we sort out the money first,' Koji reasonably pointed out, and Koichi, still on his knees, nodded while gathering the notes. 'Who brought how much?'

He handed out the said amounts, and they tucked it back into their bags, or else into a pocket, leaving the raven haired male with a wad of notes which he blinked curiously at, counting them quickly before face-palming his forehead and digging around in a pocket. He came up empty, laughed, and put the notes away. Apparently, the contents of their bags weren't the only things that had gotten scattered.

'Everyone got everything?' he asked.

'Ye-my keys!' JP shouted, searching his own pockets.

It took another five minutes before they found it mostly hidden in a crack in the sidewalk.

'Yep, that's everything.'

'Okay, so those weird things…'

Koichi made to straighten up, then reconsidered and picked up one of the odd disks.

'Made by Kaiba Corporation,' he read from the inside inscription. '145 329.'

'How can you see the serial number from that angle?' Takuya asked, peering at the band on the other's wrist.

'I'm reading from this…disk,' Koichi responded, blue eyes staring at the brown, then at the line of sight, twisting his wrist so he could see the engraved serial number. 'Same number?'

'What a coincidence,' Tommy said, wide eyed. 'I wonder if those others match.'

He picked one up, turning it around a bit before spotting the number. '142 956.' He looked at his own wrist. '149 647. Okay, not the same.'

'It's mine,' Koji muttered, staring at his own wrist.

'Oh.' He handed it over, before picking up another. 'Ah, this one's mine.'

'We're not sure-' Zoe began, before being interrupted by Takuya.

'It's too much of a coincidence,' he pointed out. 'Hey, which one of you two have 146 658?'

'Me,' JP said, and Takuya handed his disk over, receiving one himself as Zoe's seemed to be a match.

He took the cards out of their holder, spreading them out, blinking at Horus The Black Flame Dragon Lv4, before giving a sudden exclamation.

'I know where we are!'

The other five turned to stare at him.

'Well?' JP asked as the silence stretched on a little.

'We're in Domino City,' the other finally declared. 'You know, from the Yu Gi Oh universe.'

'The anime?' Koji raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah.' He waved the cards. 'These are from the game. And this-' He showed off the disk, strapping it to his right arm. 'Is a duel disk.'

The elder twin was at a loss as was the only female, but the others just looked sceptical.

'_Hello_,' the boy continued, not to be dampened. 'Seto Kaiba runs Kaiba Corp, and that's the company that made these duel disks. Yugi Muto and his friends go to Domino High-'

He broke off as the sound of raised voices came round the corner.

'I'm telling you Tristan, I'd whoop your ass blindfolded.'

There was an aggravated noise from a girl.

'Can you guys stop fighting for five minutes?'

'As if Joey,' another male replied, apparently ignoring the female. 'You just got steamrolled.'

There was a sigh.

'Joey and Tristian are two of Yugi's friends,' Takuya finished excitedly, and a tad loudly.

'And who exactly is Yugi?' Zoe asked.

'The king of games.'

'Hey, look.' The six faces snapped around to find a group of four staring at them. 'We've got fans too.'

The shortest looked curiously at the group. Koji and JP wore identical looks of surprise, while the other two brunettes were excited and the confused pair were still confused.

'King of what games?'

'Finally, a mob who doesn't want to mob me,' the short boy with the wild hair sighed in relief, causing the brown haired female to giggle.

'Don't mind Yug',' she said kindly. 'He's a little tired of the paparazzi.'

'But how can they not know the best duellist in the world?' Joey wondered.

'Hah, so you admit he's better than you.'

'I never sa-d'

'Boys!' the girl interrupted, before sighing. 'I apologize.'

Zoe grinned. 'No problem. Takuya and Koji are just the same way.'

'Hey,' the two in question exclaimed, allowing the blonde to give a "see what I mean" look.

The taller brunette laughed. 'We should introduce ourselves. I'm Téa Gardner. And this is Yugi Muto.' She pointed at the short boy with the wild hair and the pendent around his neck. 'Joey Wheeler.' The taller, dirty blonde haird boy. 'And Tristan Taylor.' The black haired on.

'I'm Zoe Orimoto,' Zoe introduced, before pointing to each of her friends in turn. 'Takuya Kanbara, JP Shibayama, Tommy Himi, Koji Minamoto and Koichi-' She paused suddenly. 'Did you ever change your name?'

He shook his head.

'Koichi Kimura,' she finished, much to the surprise of the others, looking between one twin and the other.

'You two look like clones,' Joey blurted out, much to Koji's chagrin.

'Its twins,' he growled. 'And it's none of your business why-'

'Koji,' Koichi scolded. 'Our parents are divorced,' he explained immediately afterwards.

'Hey,' Takuya said suddenly, interrupting the little brotherly moment. 'Can you guys teach us how to play? And answer a few questions?'

Everyone stared at the brunette.

'What?' he asked innocently. 'It's always best to go to the good guys for help, right?'

'So we're seriously in an anime' universe.' JP shrugged. 'Go figure.'

'I stand corrected,' Koichi laughed at that.

'Huh?'

'Oh yeah,' Takuya remembered. 'That means-'

'Finish homework first then indulge in video games and anime,' the boy dutifully recited.

'Drat.'

Zoe just shrugged. 'I'm surprised Takuya actually listens. Anyway…' She turned to the group of four. 'He's right. We could use the help.'

'Sure,' Yugi smiled. 'Let's all go to my grandfather's shop.

'Yug',' Tristan whispered as they set off, leading the way. 'They could be tricking you.'

'They're at least two years younger than us,' the other whispered back, completely lost and they have a strange aura around them. Like a fighting spirit.'

'Eh?'

Yugi looked to his other side, where the spirit of the Pharoah appeared. His _aibou_ too could sense the odd power radiating from the six, each different in its own way but melding into perfect unity.

As lost as those six were, talking about seeing them in an anime and looking at the duel disks like they were foreign objects, there was something very interesting about them.

* * *

><p>They all still sat in Solomon Muto's Card Game shop that evening. A conversation had helped along a few explanations, though Yugi was still at a loss as to the weird aura he had witnessed. At least the others were caught up in their gaps of knowledge, except how far the game went. So he, his grandfather Solomon, and Joey were teaching the game while the other two just hung around, Téa explaining some mathematical concept, not that Tristan was listening to her. In the end, she gave up and watched herself in mild interest as Takuya asked for another repeat.<p>

Joey groaned, before handing him over to Yugi. 'Can I trade for these twins?'

He blinked at that moment, noticing they were in the middle of a game. 'That was fast.'

He couldn't help but stifle a laugh as he noticed Sanctuary in the Sky and Master Hyperion on the younger twin's field. Koichi had three cards on his, all of which were face-down. It seemed the duel was rather young, as Koji had lost no life points, and Koichi a mere 600 by that stage.

Yugi smiled and shrugged, going over to the enthusiastic brunette as Joey watched the face down monster be destroyed by Hyperion's effect.

'Goblin Zombie,' he asked, raising an eyebrow. 'Gross.' He didn't sound disgusted though. Nonetheless, Koichi nodded, biting his lip.

Koji raised an eyebrow too. 'Koichi?'

'Go on Koji,' the other replied, searching his deck and selecting a monster with less than 1200 defence points.

Koji did so, picking the left face-down…which was Spell Calling.

'Whoops,' he said sheepishly, watching his twin select two more spells to fill the space. 'Well, I can still attack…'

He seemed a little hesitant to do so however, and no wonder with four face downs on the field. In the end, he did so however.

And there was a card to stop him.

'I activate Spirit Shield, removing Goblin Zombie from play to negate your attack.'

Joey just nodded, watching the other shrug, then end his turn with a face down of his own.

'I draw.' Koichi drew a card, before deliberating a moment, working things out in his head, then playing it. 'Graceful Charity. I draw three cards, discard two, then activate Everliving Underworld Cannon.'

'That lets him inflict 800 points each turn if he special summons a Zombie monster,' Joey helpfully input.

'Next, I play Call of the Mummy and special summon Blood Sucker, then sacrifice him to summon Il Blud.'

'You're still short on attack points,' Koji pointed out.

'Getting there,' his brother uttered. 'I use Il Blud's effect to summon Despair from the Dark.'

'Oh.'

'Don't forget your cannon's effect,' Joey reminded. 'Koji looses 800 points.' He looked over at Koichi. 'Anything else?'

He nodded, revealing the last card in his hand. The field spell Wasteland. 'Each Zombie gains 200 attack and defence, not to mention there goes Sanctuary in the Sky.' Joey nodded in approval. 'Are you sure this is beginner's luck?'

The boy flushed a little but nodded.

'Hmm…'

The first monster didn't take long to clear the way to Koji's life points, dropping them by an additional 400 along the way. Koichi only walked straight into the trap by sending his next monster to attack, as Call of the Haunted immediately brought Master Hyperion back, along with the 400 attack point difference.

Which then led to Koichi countering with a face-down Mystical Space Typhoon.

'What?' Koji exclaimed, just before his life-points took a serious drop to 500.

'Hey, can we go into negatives?'

'No!' Joey exclaimed, almost falling off his chair. 'Hey, Yug'. Check this out.'

Yugi came over curiously, and Joey pointed at the duel. 'He.' He pointed at Koichi. 'Just dealt 3500 points of damage in a single turn.'

Koji drew his next card, looking at the assortment in his hand. To be honest, he hadn't been expecting such a combination, and his play the previous turn had really backfired. Worse, there were still Zombie monsters in the graveyard, so his attacks wouldn't go through. And now that he had lost Sanctuary in the Sky, he couldn't use some of the agents in his deck either. However, he luckily did have another copy, and Zeradias could help him get it.

He flipped the card over: Zeradias, Herald of Heaven, before discarding it to activate its effect.

'Sanctuary in the Sky comes to my hand,' he explained, searching it out and reactivating it, destroying Wasteland. The next play summoned The Agent of Judgement, Saturn from the graveyard, and saw it back after activating its special effect.

'The difference between our life points comes out of your score.'

Joey was rather surprised when he found the brothers equal, however Koichi did have the added advantage of a full arsenal.

'Getting there,' he muttered, noting the raised eyebrow. He had waited three turns to collect the cards he needed for this. 'I activate Dawn of the Herald, sacrificing The Agent of Mystery, Earth and Dimensional Alchemist to summon Herald of Perfection.'

It had taken every card in his hand but one, so the next move was a little reliant on luck.

'I play Card of Sanctity, so we each draw till we have six cards.'

Both of them drew a full hand. Koji was pleased to note he had four Fairy-type monsters. He played the other two face down.

'I end my turn.'

Koichi drew, biting his lip slightly as he normally did when he was deep in thought. Herald of Perfection equalled his Depair from the Dark in terms of points, as the other was in defence. He couldn't activate his equip spell, because the-

He broke the train of thought suddenly. Koji could only have a maximum of 6 fairy attribute cards in his hand. 'I play Violet Crystal.'

'I discard Mystical Shine Ball.'

'I play Hollow Spirit, and while there's a zombie attribute monster in my graveyard, he can inflict 800 points of damage.'

'But he's level five.'

'Forget Sleepy Beauty?'

'Oh, right. Then I sacrifice a second Mystical Shine Ball.'

'Then I activate my spirit's second effect, summoning another from my deck.'

Koji paused. That would activate Hollow Spirit's first effect again, as would it trigger the Everliving Underworld Cannon. There went the last two fairy cards. And if Koichi had a third spirit-

'I play my third Hollow Spirit.'

'And I'm out of fairies,' Koji admitted. 'But I've still got Emergency Provisions. I sacrifice my second face down for 1000 life points.'

That left him with 700.

'They don't look like a pair of amateurs, do they?' Yugi commented in amusement. 'Though Violet Crystals would be coming in handy right about now.'

'I play Axe of Despair,' Koichi said, proving him wrong.

'Or not,' the games king lamented. 'Apparently that was a hoax.'

Koji raised an eyebrow at his brother; his way of showing concern.

'You okay?'

The other shrugged. 'Sure.'

'Koichi!'

He shrugged again. 'The cards are creepy.'

Koji wasn't sure how far he accepted that. It was true, the zombie cards were rather creepy, but he got the feeling it was bothering his brother more that _he_ had wound up with them. Especially after Yugi had explained about the heart of the cards and whatnot.

He almost didn't realise he had lost. Which was only slightly surprising; he may be better in video games, but that was because his brother never played. The ex-warrior of darkness could always out-strategize him. That was proven after a ten minute chess game, not to mention their other clashes.

'You guys sure you've never played?' Joey asked.

'Yes,' the both answered together.

'Okay…creepy.'

'I win,' Tommy cheered at the same time amidst Zoe's groan, laying down his Ice Master.

JP was still tapping his foot, waiting for Takuya to understand the game.

It was rather odd, seeing as he was the only one with prior knowledge.


	3. Ice Master

Author's Notes

I did a mistake with one of the cards in the first chapter. It's Sleepy Beauty, not Sleeping Beauty. I'll go fix that up right now. My bad, but it sounded so much like the fairytale.

Anyway, enjoy this next chapter. Another six for this arc, then we're on to a new world.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

Ice Master

Tommy was always good at games. It was just her misfortune she supposed that she had paired up with him, along with an eager grandfather and a not so eager female alternating between teaching and observing a scrimmage match. Especially since Ice Master has frozen every monster on her field and Cold Enchanter was ready to dish out ice counters to any new ones she could summon. Not to mention her face down cards were also frozen. Just how had she gotten into this situation?

That was part of the problem. Evidently she didn't have quite as good a grasp at games as Tommy did. Or the twins, as she could hear Joey's exclamation on Koichi's play, then Koji's neat counter that left them both on even ground.

She frowned slightly, considering her hand. Mist Valley Apex Avian could stop Cold Enchanter's effect, but she would need to sacrifice her Shaman and her Falcon, which would leave no monsters to sacrifice as the trigger. Not to say there wasn't anything else on her field, but they were currently locked down, so it might as well not be there, seeing as she couldn't sacrifice it. Of course, she could have activate Mist Valley Divine Wind…if it hadn't been for a certain Field Barrier in play.

She then looked at the card she played. That might just work.

'I play Cost Down.' It would cost one card from her hand, and there was only one option. She needed her Avian, so Mist Valley Divine Wind would have to go. 'I then lower my Mist Valley Apex Avian's level by two and sacrifice my Mist Valley Shaman to summon him.'

'So your Falcon is the sacrifice for your monster's effect,' Solomon nodded, before eyeing Tommy's curious grin. Zoe noted that too, but she had nothing in her hand that could do anything about the face down screaming "trap", and her own traps were still frozen. Really, there was only one thing she could do, as Cold Enchanter's special effect had increased her attack points past that of Avian's.

'Attack Ice Master.'

Tommy's grin widened. 'I play Blizzard Wall,' he said, revealing his face down. 'I switch Ice Master to defence mode, and since she's no match for your Avian's attack points, she is destroyed and your Avian now gets an Ice Counter.'

Which meant that with Absolute Ice Barrier out, he couldn't attack. And Cold Enchanter gained even more points.

'End your turn?'

'Sure.'

'Okay.' He drew a card, before immediately playing it. 'Monster Reborn.'

'Oh crap,' the blonde declared, before Ice Master returned and re-sacrificed herself for her monsters, leaving Cold Enchanter to deal with her life points.

'I win!' Tommy cheered, picking his Ice Master out of his graveyard.

Zoe groaned good-naturedly. 'This doesn't mean I'm doing your composition for you,' she said flatly, and the other grinned and nodded.

'Sure thing Z.' At least he hadn't learnt that yet.

Tristan's stomach growled suddenly. 'As fun as this is,' he began. 'I'm starving. Who's up for some grub?'

'I've got burgers,' Solomon offered.

Tristan grinned. 'Thanks gramps.'

Takuya's stomach grumbled on cue, causing Zoe and JP to laugh and the twins to exchange worried looks, which were noted by the other four. 'What's with you two?'

They exchanged another look, before Koji answered. 'Since when do virtual beings get hungry?' he asked bluntly.

Takuya flushed and began to retort, only to be cut off by the elder twin.

'He's not accusing you of anything Takuya,' he said quietly. 'But if our bodies aren't really here, why do they still need food to sustain themselves? Or sleep for that matter?' He eyed a yawning JP, who didn't notice. 'I hadn't noticed in the Digital World because we were busy fighting the Royal Knights.' He left out the Duskmon part. 'But I hadn't felt either of those things for the month and a half we were there.'

The blonde frowned slowly, before shrugging. 'That's a point,' she remarked. 'But does it really matter? No offence Koichi, but the rest of us _we're_ flesh and blood then.'

Koichi thought for a moment, then nodded. 'True,' he admitted. 'But didn't that guy say it was supposed to be virtual?'

'He also said his guinea pigs were guinea pigs, which aren't the most reliable accountants,' his brother pointed out, rolling his eyes.

During that exchange, the others had all exited, and Yugi suddenly poked his head back in, effectively ending the situation. 'Dinner's ready,' he said. 'Grandpa says he won't take no for an answer, and if you want to change out of your yutakas,-'

The six stared down at their attire, before giving an assortment of reactions.

'We've got clothes,' Zoe reassured the other, who had been in the process of offering some of his to Tommy, seeing as they were the same height. 'We had been planning on going out to-'

'-oh no!' Takuya exclaimed. 'We forgot about lunch.'

Koji suppressed a snicker with some difficulty.

* * *

><p>After a few hours and some more talking, they bumped into a second problem. Seeing as the six ex-warriors had no idea how long their "visit" was going to last, they would need to somehow find a place to stay. But all six had felt like they'd imposed enough already, but between them they only had enough money for a cheap hotel room for a single night, and it wouldn't do to not have any emergency funds to fall back onto, so they really weren't in a position to be picky. But the Muto's, although not willing to turn out five teenagers and a child, simply didn't have enough room for all six. It was Joey and Téa who came up with a solution.<p>

'Zoe can stay with me,' the only female immediately offered. 'It'd do no good for her to be stuck with all guys.' She grinned, and the blonde grinned back. So that was settled.

'Three of you can stay with me,' Joey offered. 'It's just me and Dad, so if I put up a futon in my room, two of you can share the guest bedroom. The couch simply isn't big enough to fit anything bigger than an eight year old.'

'Okay,' Takuya agreed, before turning to Koji. 'You and Koichi stay here, and we'll take that offer.'

Koji shrugged, then nodded. To the outside observer he seemed uncaring, but he appreciated the sentiment.

* * *

><p>Koichi stirred slowly, but was reluctant to open his eyes. It was a lost battle though; the sun shining in his eyes always forced them open soon enough. So he grumbled to himself (it was probably nine or so by that stage, but he had been tired the night before) and forced them open; he would have to get up at some point.<p>

Then he screamed, causing Koji beside him to jerk up and the door to fly open, revealing Yugi.

'What was that for?' Koji half shouted, not exactly in the best mood himself as he stared, half annoyed, half concerned at his elder twin who was slowly going paler than a ghost and shrinking away from the air on top of him.

Yugi on the other hand could Zombie Master hovering curiously over the boy. And for some who, first of all, apparently didn't know about monster spirits, and second of all, saw quite a frightening sight upon awakening, it wasn't all that bad of a reaction. There was quite a high probability of someone fainting from shock or fright at the image, but at least the other was still conscious, and seemingly perfectly aware as the name of the monster fell from quivering lips-

-right before the creepy personification of the grim reaper mixed in with a mutilated and rotting corpse burst into noisy tears.

'I-I thought y-you'd a-at least un-understand,' he gasped out in noisy gulps. 'Pre-prejudice – b-being the W-warrior of D-darkness and all…'

Koichi sat up, still staring. 'It's not that at all,' he said hurriedly. 'You just startled-'

He broke off and nearly jumped again as Il Blud and Despair from the Dark popped up out of…well, seemingly no-where. 'How do you guys do that?' He exclaimed.

Koji was still lost.

'I'll explain later,' Yugi said to him, even more than mildly curious as Kuriboh appeared beside him and the Pharaoh behind, all eyeing the gathering that was starting to grow in number.

Il Blud shrugged, causing the eye on his stomach to oogle blindly. 'The technicalities are lost on us,' he said. 'But deep bonds can exist between duellists and their cards. Even when they just receive them,' he added, seeing as the boy had only seen his deck for the first time that previous afternoon. 'It was no coincidence that you wound up with us, but you did appear rather shocked.'

'H-He's scared of us,' Zombie Master sobbed, and Sleepy Beauty, who was no physical attraction despite her name, opened an eye before kindly telling him to 'shut up.'

'Let me guess,' Mekuzi said, crossing his arms, one holding a scythe. 'You think we are some sort of impersonation of your heart. "It's what's inside that counts".'

'Well,' the human confessed, still rather shocked. 'That's a little over-exaggerating…'

'We're not the image of your heart or spirit if that's any comfort,' Il Blud clarified. 'You're not quite that simple to picture. We just go to the spirits we feel connected to, and it can sometimes be as much for their differences as for their similarities. And sometimes, they're the ones that are calling us. You're that last one.'

'Enough,' Sleepy Beauty yawned again, before opening both eyes. 'You'll figure it out eventually. One mirror is never enough. Hence why the queen crumbled.'

She laughed at her own joke, but no-one else did.

'That's the wrong fairytale,' Mekuzi rolled his eyes.

Uncaringly, the corpse holding the doll closed her eyes again. Or rather, the dim light that served as her eyes blinked out. 'Fairytales are all fairytales,' she yawned. 'Doesn't matter which one's which. As long as the message gets through.'

'One mirror is never enough?' Koichi repeated.

The monster nodded.

'So…' He thought for a moment. 'There's more than one way of looking at things to get the whole picture?'

Another nod.

'I like him already,' Zombie Master trilled, grinning now and throwing both humans for a loop with the abrupt mood swing. And some of the higher-level monsters.

Hollow Spirit growled desperately. 'Do I need to call Ice Master?' he threatened.

'She's not around,' the other sung, dancing.

'Think again,' Sleepy Beauty interjected as a bell rung in the distance.

The monsters froze instantly as Tommy, JP, Takuya and Joey crowded around the door. Zombie Master eeped, then vanished, much to some amusement.

'He's got a crush on Ice Master,' Despair from the Dark explained with some amusement as the others began to leave as well. 'Deep down, he can be quite a child, but that childishness allows him to see bonds better than others.' There was a pause, wherein there was only him and the boy he was talking to. 'Think of us as your guardians here, and if you ever need us somewhere else, all you have to do is want enough.'

The way he said it told the other that 'want' had nothing to do with wanting the spirits' presence.

Then the last monster vanished too.

'That was interesting,' Yugi commented, as everyone else stared blankly at him.

'What was?' Everybody except Koichi asked.

'No-one else saw or heard that.'

There were several shaking heads, before he exchanged glances with Koichi, before the boy turned to somewhat glare at Takuya.

'You've seen the anime Takuya,' he said, a little annoyed. 'Why didn't you mention the seeing spirits part?'

'Umm…I forgot?' There was a pause, then…'You can see them?'

There was a chirp from Yugi's shoulder, which drew him to the two spirits lurking behind them.

'Apparently.' Koichi grinned suddenly. 'They sure are something. The undead certainly have their perks. No illusions of grandeur from life-'

'Can you not say that with a smile on your face?' JP groaned, shaking his head. 'That weirds me out.'

Only, he said it so softly that the other didn't hear him.

'-not to mention I've gotten some Guardian-um, guardian…' He stumbled for a word.

'Angels?' Yugi supplied, amused, but he was rather startled by the vehement response from the six guests.

'Not angel!'

The grin became less amused and more gratified. The cards had creeped him out at first, but not for the image. But it felt rather special to have them looking out for him, as well as his friends and brother so close. A few years ago, he had none of those, and there was no room for guilt because that sustenance flowed all ways across the web of love and friendship.

He still filed the words away for later remembrance. They had to be important if they told him in such a spectacle.


	4. Battle City Tournament

Author's Notes

I've got a bit of a break between this exam and the net one, so I can finish off this chapter. Funny thing is, I've got half of chapter 10 and part of chapters 26 and 34 (with the current plan anyway). Ideas running around. Better than charges running around, aka. physics exam today.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

Battle City Tournament

'What are you guys going to do?' Joey asked suddenly, swinging on the chair as the twins quickly played a game of rock, paper and scissors for the dishes. Koichi won and whisked them off before Solomon could comment. Or Yugi for that matter.

'Letting your guests do the housework?' Téa chided in some amusement as the others laughed. 'Of course, I'm one to talk.' She looked meaningfully at Zoe, who grinned bashfully in return.

'We can't just mooch off you guys,' the blonde commented, before glaring at the three guys.

The two older boys pointed at Tommy, who grinned somewhat sheepishly and pointed at the other two.

'Okay?' Koji blinked.

'We split,' Takuya clarified with a grin. 'Five chores, five straws.'

Koji rolled his eyes.

'And since Koichi beat you to the dishes…'

'And the beds.'

'And the beds, what exactly did you do? And tell me you didn't make breakfast.'

JP gagged.

'No, Koichi beat me there too.'

'That's four in a row,' the goggle-head said, amused. 'You're falling behind.'

'At least I won the shopping list,' he shot back.

'Are you two going to leave any chores for me?' Yugi wondered as Koichi came back inside and plopped down next to Koji.

'The clothes,' they said together in perfect unison.

'Seriously,' Joey commented. 'How do you do that?'

'And how did you wake up so early?' Tristan's awed voice cut them in, accompanied by the tinkling of the bell as he walked into the game shop.

'Someone snores,' the dirty blonde replied in a whining tone, glaring at the three brunettes, the oldest and youngest of who glared at the middle member. Koichi and Zoe exchanged grins, as did a very amused Zombie Master who was cackling uncontrollably and a more controlled Mist Valley Shaman, much to the surprise of the two grinning teens.

'You can-' Zoe began, and Koichi nodded. The grin widened. 'Cool.'

'Were they hovering in front of your face when you woke up?' The elder twin asked wryly, as everyone except Yugi stared blankly at them.

'Nope. They were throwing a party outside.'

'Fun,' the other commented, as the spirit behind him continued to cheer. 'You didn't sneak out on that party did you?'

'I would have noticed if he had,' Zoe replied, giving the hyperactive ghoul a one-over before shrugging it off. Looks were deceiving after all, and she found she somewhat preferred the no-skin scenario. More focus on what was inside. And she got the feeling Koichi would agree to her.

Koji was however still confused, and annoyed at being confused. 'Not you too,' he groaned. 'Can anyone explain what's going on?'

Yugi chucked. 'I completely forgot,' he confessed, before proceeding to explain the concept of monster spirits, while Koichi vanished again after the dishes.

Once that was done to everybody's immediate satisfaction, Joey brought up his original question, causing the six to exchange glances before immediately referring their attention to their wrist bands.

Then Takuya shrugged, speaking for everyone. 'Who knows how long this is going to take? But I'll tell you one thing; definitely not going to school in my winter break.'

'School closed yesterday,' Yugi clarified. 'But the Battle City Tournament starts up next week.'

'Battle City?' Takuya repeated, before jumping up suddenly. 'Koichi, was there any locator cards with our stuff?' he yelled loudly so the other could hear him over the water.

The tap turned off on cue and Koichi poked his head around the door. 'What's a locator card?' he asked.

Yugi dug around in his pockets. 'This,' he said, showing the transparent card with a small white square on one side. 'It's what qualifies you for the tournament. Kaiba sent one to everyone who also received a duel disk.'

Koichi came over and looked closely at the card. 'I think so,' he replied. 'I thought it was one of JP's computer things, so they're probably in his back-pack.'

Takuya turned to the older brunette. 'Want to check?'

'I'm going.' The other quickly held his arms up in surrender before pushing his chair back. 'What are you so excited about anyway?'

'Are you kidding? It's like the biggest tournament ever. The Egyptian Dark cards, E-'

'Enough,' Koji interrupted.

The frontier children didn't looked too surprised at the interruption, but the others certainly were.

'I'll never get used to this,' Joey muttered, before raising his voice for the next statement. 'What's wrong with a little info?'

'Knowing the future can cause it to change,' the ex-warrior of light replied calmly. 'And that can cause changes to the continuum, which can cascade effect into other worlds.'

'Of course' Koichi continued. 'Us simply being here might change things as well. Unless our presence is in fact virtual.'

'I thought we already settled it can't be,' Zoe frowned.

'Virtual's the wrong word,' Koji commented, looking at his brother.

'I know,' he replied. 'But I'm having trouble coming up with the right one. Umm…'

There was silence for a moment as the ex-warrior of darkness tried to put his thoughts into words that made sense to his audience, before he suddenly snapped his fingers. 'Alternate timeline.'

'So its stems off from the world of the anime?' JP asked, coming back in and overhearing that last part.

Koichi shrugged. 'Just speculating.'

'What happens if it's not?' Tommy asked.

Koichi shrugged. He was good with coming up with theories, but not so good when it came to applying them.

'I suppose we'd wipe out our own plane of existence,' Koji replied for him. 'Change our world, and others, so there'd be no home, no Digital World, no…us.'

'That's scary.' The boy shivered.

'I doubt that,' Zoe said, lowering her chin onto her arms. 'Something would have already happened if that was the case.

Koji frowned. 'We haven't done anything substantial.'

'Not in our view,' the blonde female pointed out. 'But even the smallest things make a difference.'

'But can we take the risk?'

'We're going to have to,' JP pointed out. 'Us just being here is going to screw things up otherwise. All the same though Takuya, we know the basics, so keep all the other anime tidbits to yourself.'

'Fine,' the brunette grumbled, before perking up. 'The locator cards?'

JP held up six.

'Aw man,' the luck-duellist groaned out. 'He's already got six of 'em.'

'They're probably one each,' Téa pointed out. 'If everything got scattered, someone might have just put them all in the same place.'

That someone attained a small red blush on his cheeks, much to his slightly younger brother's amusement.

'Quit it Koji,' he muttered under his breath as the other started snickering.

'All right,' the other assented. It probably wasn't the best time to tease his older twin, especially since he sprouted an identical blush when he noted the captive audience.

'Oh my God!' Joey suddenly yelled. 'I forgot to check on Serenity.'

He shot for the door.

'Use our phone,' Yugi shouted after him.

'Thanks man,' the dirty blonde responded, rushing past for the phone in the hallway amidst a few giggles.

'Okay, now that that is out of the way,' Solomon began. 'Who's going to do my shopping?'

Everyone except Koji stared at him. Koji just pulled out the list from his back pocket. 'On it.'

Koichi got up too, but his brother pushed him down. 'No way.'

'You don't know the way.'

'Neither do you.'

'No worries,' Téa interrupted. 'I'll take him.'

He smiled at Koichi, who smiled back and gave up. It would be rather funny to see Koji after spending half a day with a girl. And shopping of all things.

Koji glared inward daggers at his brother, perfectly reading the intention, but he could do nothing. He really didn't know the way, and it would defeat the usefulness if he got lost and never made it back. Besides, he couldn't let her go by herself. Would outlive his usefulness, and the least he could do was be the gentleman and carry the bags.

Zoe was rather amused as well, remembering the "loner wolf's" reaction when she had hugged him. 'Have fun,' she called after the pair. 'Don't stay out too late.'

'Whatever,' Koji grumbled before vanishing from earshot apart from a couple of blank stares and a few more giggles.

'So we're in the tournament?' Tommy asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

The remaining five looked at each other. 'Sounds like fun,' Takuya said, a little more placate now. 'And seriously, what have we got to lose. We have to do something.'

'And in the meantime?' Koichi asked.

'And another thing,' JP continued. 'This is only the first cycle. We might not always be so lucky as to wind up with people we can be sure are friendly. The chances are pretty slim. We've got enough money between us for one hotel room for a single night, and a cheap one at that. We've only got one change of clothes, the yutakas we were wearing. Apart from that, some useless gadgets, five mobiles, a few books, a water bottle and a train ticket. And some other junk.'

'It's not junk,' Zoe snapped lightly. 'But you do have a point. What can we do about that though?'

'It's the holidays, right?' Koichi asked. Upon a nod, he continued. 'Don't students sometimes work in the holidays. Maybe we can find somewhere-'

'Normally I'd say no way,' JP butted in. 'But I see your point. We might as well take advantage of this opportunity and find something.'

'Well,' Solomon said, easing himself off the chair. 'I could use a break and a couple of hands at the card shop. Why don't you and your brother work for me? It sounds like an easy solution.'

'But-' Koichi began to protest, seeing as the old Muto was referring to him and his twin, only the others seemed to sense what he was thinking, or about to say before he quite got the words out, and Takuya promptly grabbed his wrist and started dragging him to the extended shop.

'We're not helpless,' the brunette continued, dragging his quiet friend. 'We'll find something. Besides, it makes more sense for you two, because you're both more patient than me, don't stop for useless chatter and you already know how to work the cash register and clean the shop to the standards of an old geezer-' He immediately cut off. 'Not you Mr Muto, I'm talking about that-what's his name?'

Koichi just shook his head, a tad amused but respectful all the same.

'Not to mention you've got the adorable "over the counter" look.'

The others didn't quite hear Koichi's reply as Yugi's grandfather, along with Yugi, got up to follow them. 'I'd better explain the ropes,' the old man stated to himself. 'Don't want them all tangled up.'

Zoe cracked up in her seat.

'Now can we talk about something that involves us?' Joey grumbled, conveniently overlooking the fact that he started the entire ball-game with his oh-so-innocent question.


	5. Horus The Black Flame Dragon

Author's Notes

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

Horus The Black Flame Dragon

'Oh man, I can't believe this happened!' Joey yelled, tearing at his hair and effectively waking his three previously sleeping guests.

'I was sleeping,' Takuya groaned rolling over. 'Take it down a notch.'

'Payback for the times you woke me up with your snoring,' the dirty blonde grumbled, before exclaiming again. 'Oh man. Damn rotten Rare Hunters. Distracting me from checking up on my sister.'

He dove for the phone and began a rapid fire conversation which suggested to the other three that it wasn't with his sister (well, not entirely anyway), and as it was, no-one heard the persistent doorbell until someone threw something at the window.

'Huh?' Takuya stuck his head out, only to get hit by the second rock.

'Takuya?' Tommy blinked, before peering more cautiously at an annoyed Koji laden down with bags.

'Would someone open the door?' he yelled, and the youngest quickly hurried down to fulfil that request as Takuya rubbed his sore forehead. Luckily, it had been a reasonably sized pebble, so no lasting damage had been done.

'Sheesh, couldn't you wait.'

'I waited for the last ten minutes,' the other gritted out, dumping the bags. 'Breakfast from Mr Muto's.'

'Yum,' the brunette goggle-head cheered, immediately grabbing a packet and ripping it open. 'Oh, how cute!'

A perfectly cut cat was in his grip.

'Hey.' JP unwrapped several more packets. 'There's others too.'

There was a bird, and a bug, and a bear, and a dragon. And several other animals.

'Did you do the carving?' Tommy asked Koji, who had picked up a wolf. The boy choked at the question, which the younger took as a validation. 'They're good.'

He quickly bit into the cookies.

'I guess Koichi did the cooking then,' the ex-ice warrior laughed, picking out the bear and nibbling. 'Yep. Again. You always make him do the cooking.'

'He always makes me not,' the other grumbled.

'Well,' JP mumbled with his mouth full. 'He can cook…unlike you and Takuya.'

'Hey,' the brunette in question mumbled likewise. 'He can't beat Tommy's burgers.'

'True,' the eldest agreed as Joey made a grab for the biscuits. 'Only because he's never cooked burgers before.'

'And I've never cooked biscuits,' Tommy pointed out. 'Especially for breakfast.'

'He figured sugar was good for the tournament rundown today,' Koji shrugged. 'I told him overloading Takuya on sugar was a bad idea, but…' He shrugged again. 'He said I was exaggerating.'

'You are,' Takuya said, polishing off the last of his share and pointing at Joey.

'Ooh, those guys are going to pay for taking my Red Eyes. It's go time!'

He shot off

'Oh boy,' the raven haired male groaned. 'Neither of us considered that.'

'Hey,' the ex-warrior of fire yelled. 'We don't know the way.'

The hyped up dirty blonde ignored them.

'Let's go.'

'Hey, wait. Where is Koichi anyway?'

'Minding the shop for the moment. He'll forget or mix up the rules of the tournament.'

'True enough. But that sounds like you lost to him again.'

'Don't rub it in.'

* * *

><p>'How can there be this big a crowd,' Takuya wondered out loud. 'And no-one to duel?'<p>

'Maybe you're not looking hard enough,' a taller and more thuggish looking duellist scoffed, coming behind him. 'But I could do with a warm-up.'

Takuya grinned. He was quite familiar with the type. 'You've bitten off more than you can chew,' he declared, activating his duel disk.

Koji, who had been behind him, groaned. He wasn't too sure about that.

'Duel!'

'Losers first,' the elder said.

Takuya just grinned right back. 'Well, what are you waiting for then? A label.' There was a pregnant pause, then… 'Koji, you got one?'

'Don't drag me into this,' the ex-warrior of light snapped.

'Sure thing bud.'

Koji sighed as the other guy, who hadn't even been polite enough to introduce himself, took the first turn and summoned…

'Hey, get your own deck!'

And it was a well worth declaration, because the other guy had summoned Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 4, after he played a face down card.

'Unlike some right off deck,' the other scoffed, ignoring the ex-flame warrior's growl. 'This is the original, and it's a top notch deck.'

'Yeah right,' the other shot back. 'Well, it can't even hold the candles to mine.'

'Great job Takuya giving away your deck before you even go,' Koji groaned.

'Don't worry Koji,' the goggle-wearing brunette grinned, staring down the black haired street duellist. 'I've got a plan.'

'That'll be a first then.'

'I draw.' Takuya drew a card from his deck. Then he smirked. 'Guess what I summon.'

'A baby marshmallow,' the other teased.

'Hardly. Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 4, rise up!'

'That's original,' his opponent muttered.

'How's this for original then?' Takuya asked, flipping the card he had drawn. 'Dark Core.'

His smirk widened as the other scowled .'You seriously thought I'd fall from Horus' effect?' he asked. 'Hello, same ace monster? But I'm sure you can use that attack booster another time, if you get the chance.'

'Let's not get overconfident,' Koji cautioned.

'Do you always have to ruin my parade,' the other groaned. 'Whatever. Dark Core removes your dragon from play, which means no evolving. And with that, mine attacks you directly, you deck thief!'

Koji just sighed as the other's life points dropped to 2400. He was starting to think Koichi did have the right idea after all.

'Yeah. Take that.'

'Let's not get overconfident,' Koji repeated.

'Exactly, the other replied. 'Especially since you've triggered my trap card.'

'Oh oh.' Apparently, he hadn't had the right idea after all.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Koji couldn't believe his luck. He was still watching two Horus decks go head to head on the first day of the tournaments. Except they were both level 8.<p>

So of course they were going to destroy each other.

Great, now they both had 1600 life points and nothing on their fields except a face down on Takuya's.

'And now, I summon my last Horus-'

'Actually,' Takuya grinned. 'No you don't. Hopefully,' he added as an afterthought as he flipped his face down card. Cloak and Dagger. 'I declare Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level Four.'

'Drat,' the other exclaimed.

'Finally, you don't one up me. I draw.'

Then he grinned. 'I guess it's too bad you didn't have anything else in your hand or graveyard, because here's Monster Reborn.'

'And what exactly do you plan to do with that?'

'Summon out Dark Horus of course.'

'Did you actually just make a good move?' Koji asked.

'Shut it Koji. I've made plenty of good moves.'

'Well, that's true.' A slight pause. 'Great, it's gone to his head.' Another pause. 'And that's overkill you realise.'

'Who cares. Dark Horus, attack!'

'And all the spectators now know how your deck works.'

Takuya grinned. 'Let them. I'll pull out a twist. Besides, what can they make out of thirteen cards?'

'Give this kid a mirror to-' He broke off as there was a crunch and a sheepish whoops from somewhere in the crowd. 'Not what I meant.'

Takuya ignored his best friend on that one, turning instead to accept the other's Horus the Black Flame Dragon Level 8 and locator card. 'Thanks buddy,' he said.

'I'm not your buddy,' the other scowled.

'Sheesh, just trying to be nice.'

* * *

><p>'You had <span>Level Up<span> in your hand since round 1?' Koji repeated. 'And Monster Reborn?'

'Yep.' The other trotted along with half a skip in his step.

'And why the heck didn't you play them then?' Between Horus The Black Flame Dragon Level 4 and the level six counterpart that had also been in his hand, he would have won in the first round.

'Only you,' began Koichi, alerting the other two to two things: firstly they had arrived at their destination, and secondly, they were a little late if the normally patient Koichi was impatiently drumming his fingers against the opposite arm and evidently waiting _outside_ the shop. 'Would delay a duel four rounds further than it needs to be just so you can throw it in your opponent's face.'

'Oh come on Koichi, lighten up,' the other protested. 'It wasn't like that at all.'

'Sure it wasn't,' Koji rolled his eyes. 'After all, it was only your pride on the line.'

'Yeah…hey.'

Both twins grinned, before Koichi turned to his brother. 'Your turn to man the desk.'

'I'm going,' the other replied, pushing the door open as the other two trailed beneath him. 'Was there a lot of business?'

'In the morning. Half the city were trying to touch up their decks. After that, just a few people to counter some strategies they discovered in the competition and to gossip.'

'Which explains how you found out about Takuya's match.'

Koichi grinned at him again. 'That's not the only thing I found out about,' he commented. 'I also heard about a little girl challenging my dear brother.'

Takuya cracked up at that as the other scowled. 'She was annoying. Besides, she's not even in the tournament.'

'True, but could have humoured-'

He was interrupted by the tinkling bell as a young girl walked in. Koji immediately shot under the desk, much to his elder twin's bewilderment and best friend's amusement.

'Hi,' the girl piped, staring curiously at Koichi. 'Do you have a twin?'

'Umm…' Koichi began, before being interrupted when she turned on Takuya. 'Hey, you were with that boy. Where is he?'

She looked so scary that Takuya immediately pointed to the desk.

'Oh,' she said, misunderstanding. 'That's right. I almost forgot.'

The girl in the long black plaits went over to the counter. 'My big sister ordered a card. Valhala, Hall of the Fallen.'

There was a pause in which nothing happened, then Koichi went around the desk and dug out the requested card. 'Mr Muto's watching the tournament,' he explained. 'I'm watching the shop for him.'

'Oh, I see.'

Once the girl was gone, Koji came back out, and the two refrained from cracking up again.

'That was lucky,' he said. 'Good thing she got distracted.'

'Yeah, and good thing she didn't decide to latch on to Koichi instead.' Takuya raised an eyebrow at the elder twin, who shrugged.

'Maybe Koji's just better boyfriend material.' There was a pause. 'Though I've never known you to _hide_ from a girl before.'

'You want her to run out of here bawling?'

'Aww, Koji's got a soft spot.'

'Soft spot?' His brother exclaimed. 'She's seven years old.'

'Oh man, thank you, thank you, thank you.'

The three looked at the door, where Yugi, followed by Joey, came in.

'Guess what,' he said, seeing Takuya.

'Yugi won your Red Eyes back?' Takuya asked, remembering the episodes.

'Yeah…hey, way to ruin the mood.'

The brunette grinned sheepishly. 'Sorry.'

'At least he'll be a little quieter now,' JP assented, following behind with a cheerful Tommy.

'That's like telling a thunderstorm to be quiet.'

'Hey, I resent that!'

'What did I say?'

'Warrior of _Thunder_!'

'…oh.'


	6. Field Destruction

Author's Notes

The fallen angel cards are actually called Darklords in the English version, but fallen angel sounded cooler, so I'm going with the Japanese version for that one or two cards. The effect of support cards also says Fallen Angel.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

Field Destruction

JP stared at the woman to stopped her.

'What?' she asked, smiling at him. 'You're not a contestant?'

'I am,' the elder brunette admitted. 'But I was hoping for someone more my age. Especially for my first match.'

She winked, smoothing out her drop-skirt. 'I'm no pushover,' she remarked. 'But I'm sure I'm better than some of the people around here.'

A scuffle breaking out at that point proved her right.

'Well?'

JP shrugged. 'All right. I can do losing to you.'

'Ah, but you might win.' She smiled. 'But then again, I don't plan to let that happen. Give me a good match though.'

'But I've only duelled for about a week.'

The red lips twisted into a smirk. 'Oh, I know. Hence why I want a warm up match before taking on Mai. Technically, you shouldn't be in this competition, which means you entered illegally, but I won't tell.' She winked at him.

He almost stumbled at that. 'Wha-? How?'

'Any experienced duellist can tell by looking at a duel,' she remarked, activating her duel disk. The shadow she cast spread and loomed over him, even if he wasn't exactly what you would call small. Against a fully grown woman though, that was a little questionable. 'I saw one of your friends yesterday.'

Tommy probably. Oh great.

'I guess I don't have much of a choice.'

'If you're in this tournament, no.'

'All right then.'

'I'm Hana by the way.'

'I'm JP.'

'Duel!'

The chestnut haired woman drew a card first. 'I'll start, with a face down monster in defence mode. And one card face down.'

JP took his turn, staring at the two overturned cards then at the duellist who had played them for some sort of hint. Receiving none, he sighed before looking at his own cards. There wasn't much he could do right that minute, but if he played his cards right, he could get a strategy going.

'I play a face down monster, and that's it.'

Hana raised an eyebrow, before drawing. 'I summon Allure Queen Level 3 in attack mode.'

'Level monsters?' Like Takuya's, he thought. Oh great.

'I activate her special ability,' the woman continued. 'And equip my face down monster, the level 2 Dreamsprite, to her. So should she be destroyed in battle, I can instead destroy the equip monster.'

In other words, no point going for the weaker monster. Oh boy. At least the monster wasn't very strong, so chances are she wouldn't chance his face down.

'I attack your face down monster.'

'You what?' JP gaped as his Battteryman Micro-cell was flipped over. 'Micro cell's special ability allows me to special summon Batteryman AA to the field, and I'll play him in attack mode.'

'Micro-cell is still destroyed,' Hana pointed out, allowing the other to draw a card due to its effect. 'Your go.'

Still wondering at the risky play so early in the game, JP drew his next card. 'I summon Batteryman AA, again in attack mode. And with two batteries on my field, each one gains 2000 attack points.'

Hana grinned. 'Oh dear. Both my monsters are severely outmatched.'

'Got that right. Batteryman, attack!'

She clicked her tongue at him, before flipping over her face down card. 'I play the quick-play Blind Spot Strike. Now by targeting your battery and my Allure Queen Level 3, I can allow my queen to gain attack points equal to the defence strength of your batteryman.'

'But that's 2000.'

The woman smiled as his life points dropped to 3500. 'Exactly. And for the info, I chose your other battery, so her attack point rise is now simply cut in half along with your monster's attack and defence points.'

'Then I'll attack your Dreamsprite with him.'

'Then I'll activate her special ability, allowing me to shift battle targets.'

JP scratched his head as his life points dropped by a further 500. 'I was supposed to know that?'

'Maybe, maybe not. But this is a cruel world. Have you got anything else?'

JP looked at his hand, before playing two cards face down.

'I draw then.' She looked at her card, before adding it to her hand. 'Now, since my Allure Queen still as an equip during my standby, she gets an upgrade to level 5. Of course, my Dreamsprite has to go along with it, but it's a price worth paying.'

'I'll say.'

'Thank you dear.'

The fiery black-clad monster on the field simply stared blankly in a holographic image.

'Now I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards, discarding two, and summoning my Rose Fairy in defence mode. By her special ability, should I draw her to my hand outside the draw face, she is automatically summoned. And now, I sacrifice her to summon out the Fallen Angel Desire.'

She smirked. 'Now for the matter of your face downs?'

'Uhh…' JP began sweat-dropping. This could be a real problem. That monster alone had enough attack points to wipe him out. And if she destroyed the wrong card-

Luckily, both could help…somewhat.

'I equip my Desire with Allegro Tool to take out your face-down card.'

'Which one?'

She frowned, staring at them, before pointing to the left. It flipped up to reveal Negate Attack before being destroyed.

Her eyes narrowed. 'Allure Queen, attack!'

'Not so fast. Go, Portable Battery Pack! I summon two Batteryman AA's from the graveyard in attack mode.'

'My bad,' the woman sighed as her Allure Queen was destroyed along with a thousand of her attack points. 'But Desire can destroy one with ease.'

She did so, shifting the scales again.

'I play a card face down and end my turn.'

'I draw then, and sacrifice my other battery to summon Super-Electromagnet Voltech Dragon. And since it was a AA battery that was sacrificed, he gains 1000 attack points.'

'But that's enough to beat my Desire.'

'That's the whole point. Dragon, attack.'

Hana quickly flipped her face down. 'Go, Kanai with Chain and I activate it's second effect, equipping it to my monster for another 500 attack points, which gives it 100 more than yours.'

That left his points at 1900. This lady always seemed to be a step ahead of him.

'I play Photon Lead and summon Batteryman D in defence mode, then I'll play one card face down.'

The woman shrugged. 'All right then. I draw, then pick up two more with Pot of Greed.' She put her tongue between her teeth, before grinning. 'I play End of the World to sacrifice Dancing Fairies and Fairy of the Fountain to summon out my ace monster: Ruin, Queen of Oblivion.'

JP was understandably shocked by the appearance of the queen of oblivion. She, to be honest, looked to harmless in her holographic image.

'Attack and end this.'

'What? How?'

Hana grinned. 'Because,' she said patiently, as if explaining to a young child. 'When Ruin destroys an opponent's monster, she attacks once again in a row.'

'Not gonna happen.' JP flipped his face down card. 'I activate Draining Shield. Your attack is cancelled, and I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points.'

Which boosted him up to 4200.

'Lucky,' the other remarked. 'But by dropping her attack points by 1000, my Desire can destroy your battery, so you're almost back to square one.'

That left him with 2200 and an empty field, having to contend against two monsters, each with 2000 and 2300 attack points each.

'Your go.'

There was only one thing he could do. 'I remove my two Batteryman AA's from play to summon Batteryman Industrial Strength.'

With 2600 attack points, it beat both monsters.

'I remove my micro-cell to destroy Ruin, then I attack Desire.'

'Ironic,' the woman remarked, and it was. Taking the short cut to ruin and a frontal assault to desire. But it accomplished 600 points of damage and a clear field.

'Nice move.' She drew the final card. 'I play Altar of Restoration, banishing my top two cards to return Pot of Greed to my hand.' She looked at her two cards, then smiled in somewhat relief. 'You pulled out my stronger monsters, not giving me enough time for a combination, but I don't need one after all.' She flipped the card: Fulfilment of the Contract. 'With the cost of 800 attack points, I return Ruin, Queen of Oblivion to the field.'

Alone, the grey haired queen clad in red and black stood proud in her holographic image.

'One card,' she said, gesturing at her final card. 'All I need is more than 300 attack points.'

The spell card in her hand was Elf's Light, which raised the equipped's attack points by 400.

'Go. Attack his monster, then him directly.'

That was enough to drop his points to 0.

Hana came up to him. 'It's been a long time since someone has forced my hand to summon out my ace,' she said quietly. 'You may be an amateur, but sometimes one duel is enough to give you a lifetime of experience. If I hadn't drawn those particular cards, I would have lost. Not many combinations in my deck would have sufficed.'

'I guess I owe you my locator cards and-'

She held up her hand. 'I know the rules state your strongest card is up for Ante, but I would like your Draining Shield. Your Batteries would not work with my deck.'

A tournament rule was what it was, but even though he had only been with that card for a week, and it was easily replaceable, there was a somewhat sense of failure watching it retreat with the woman.

'Hey.' Zoe suddenly appeared on his shoulder. That lady's pretty strong. And not nice at all.' She glared at the retreating back.

JP stared at her. 'What do you mean?'

'Didn't you know?' She raised an eyebrow. 'The only serious duel she'll fight in is with some lady called Mai. So she's practicing on people who weren't specifically invited by Kaiba.'

'She's not all bad Z,' JP sighed. 'Just because I lost to her.'

'Can't she fight someone her own size and skill instead?' She scowled.

'This _is_ a tournament Zoe. People are looking for easy victories. I got lucky yesterday.'

'Luck had nothing to do with it,' the girl said hotly.

'Face it Z, I'm really no good at card games. I lose every game of Go Fish we've ever played. I wind up wiped out with Poker.'

'You fixed my bike up brilliantly though.' She smiled at him.

'Yeah.' He grinned back. 'Who cares if I'm no good at card games. I'm good at other stuff and that's good enough.'

'Now let's grab some lunch.'


	7. Mist Valley

Author's Notes

Zoe's turn to shine this chapter.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 7<span>

Mist Valley

'Shooting Star Bow allows my Fallen Angel Desire to attack directly. Go.'

Four locator cards. Mai Valentine would have at least two, though more likely more. At least now she could have her duel against that woman and her Harpies.

'Hold it Hana,' someone yelled at her, calling for a halt. 'You're not duelling anyone before me.'

'I've got someone I already want to duel, little girl,' the woman said, but not unkindly. 'Surely you can find another opponent.'

The blonde folded her arms. 'I don't _want_ another opponent. I want you, so I can win back my friend's card.'

'You won't win,' the woman said calmly. 'You put forth too much fighting spirit. Like your friend with the dragons.'

'Then you shouldn't have a problem duelling me.' Zoe gritted her teeth. She was starting to like this woman less every second.

'Perhaps. But I'd like to duel someone who gives a bit more of a challenge.'

'Like JP?' Now she was somewhat curious as well.

'His experience level might be the same as you, but he's got a better grasp on his deck, enough so at least so his doesn't need to speak out on him.'

She raised an eyebrow at her deck, before turning back. 'How do you know?'

'I can see monster spirits you know,' the woman replied, pointing at Lady Ninja Yae floating behind the blonde.

'Guilty,' the spirit said sheepishly.

Zoe turned to frown at her. 'Mind explaining.'

'Later,' she said as the twins showed up.

'What's going on here?'

Zoe frowned further. 'That's what I want to know. I'm trying to duel someone, but they won't have it.'

'I've seen you two as well,' she said, nodding at Koji and Koichi in turn. 'Though I can't seem to remember which of you had the agent deck and which the zombie.'

Neither said anything to that.

'Why won't you duel her?' Koji asked, gesturing at Zoe. 'Afraid to lose?'

'Hardly. I don't want to duel her is all.'

Koichi sighed as his Zombie Master started laughing again. 'What's funny?'

'Just because you have a deck doesn't make you any good at card games. It's not the way it works.'

'I'm lost,' the human sighed.

'What he means,' Mezuki said, suddenly appearing. 'Is that, while all of you were equipped with decks and duel disks, the function may not necessarily be of winning duels. In fact, that is not their primary function at all.'

'I guess I'm explaining now after all,' Yae sighed. 'The decks are designed to push each of you further in your own way. Takuya's is based on a full frontal assault, which while is compatible with his personality, teaches him that that is not always the answer. Tommy's is a barrier deck based on teamwork, but alone, his cards fail.'

'And both of them have lost that way,' Koji nodded.

They were talking quietly enough so Hana couldn't hear them. She was just tapping her foot, waiting for them to finish.

'Yours Zoe returns cards to their owner's hands, but it almost entirely incompatible to your own personality. You need to work with that. You've so far used your deck the wrong way and that's why you keep losing. You need to use it the way it is meant to be used.'

She looked down. 'Is that a way to tell me to be more patient?'

'And more besides. But you'll find out later.'

She then turned to the twins. 'For you two, twins of darkness and light.'

'Actually have nothing to do with each other,' Mekuzi validated. 'Koichi, I think you already know. Zombies. Hideous on the outside, are we not? But it's what inside that count. And that's rather versatile as you've realised.'

'And Koji,' Yae continued.

'Let me guess. Imperfection is perfection. How else did the Herald of Perfection get beaten?'

She grinned. 'Got it in one.'

'So we get lessons even in the holidays.'

'We just thought we'd take advantage of the situation. And it works both ways too. We need friends.'

Yae waved and they all vanished, prompting Hana to turn to them. 'I'll be going then.'

'No way,' Zoe yelled, a little too loud. 'I said you're duelling me and I'm not taking no for an answer.'

The woman sighed. 'Look, I really want to duel Mai. If we both get into the finals, I'll be stuck being left to chance. No doubt Seto Kaiba will make it through, and Yugi Muto. I'd lose to either of them, and I want my chance to duel her.'

'That rather contradictory,' Koji remarked. 'Sounds to me like you're afraid to lose.'

The woman gritted her teeth. 'Perhaps I have a challenge I would rather face than a frontal assault.'

'Then you don't know my deck very well,' Zoe remarked. 'This frontal assault's going side a ways. Humour me. I need to brush up anyway and preferably not against either of these two.' She gestured at the twins.

She sighed, then shrugged. 'Prove me wrong then girl,' she said, activating her duel disk. 'Besides, another slam dunk won't be entirely wasted in any case.'

'For the stakes,' Zoe continued. 'I want my friend's Draining Shield back.'

'Against?'

'That's for you to choose…if you win.' There was a pause. 'And my name is Zoe, not girl, Ms Hana.'

It was a mark of the other's character that she did not ask the 'Ms' to be dropped.

'Duel!'

Hana took the first turn once again. 'I'll start with Meltiel, Sage of the Sky and one reverse cards. Your go.'

'That was quick,' Zoe accepted, drawing her sixth card before carefully considering her hand. Paying more attention to the effects, she realised her deck was none at all built for a powerful frontal assault despite that it could be managed and coordinated. Rather, there were other effects and lockdowns she could take advantage of. 'All right. I play two cards face down then play the continuous spell card Spring of Rebirth. Then I'll play a monster face down and end my turn.'

That, in all honesty, gave away very little. For all Hana knew, one of those face-downs could be Compulsory Evacuation Device.

'I draw, and activate my face down Ivy Shackles. With this, my Meltiel, Sage of the Sky becomes a Plant type, meaning I can now return her to my hand to special summon Fallen Angel of Roses.'

'Smart play,' Koji commented. 'And she's still got her normal summon.'

'Precisely, which I use to play Dreamsprite in attack mode.'

'300 attack points?' Zoe asked. 'And a special ability presumably?'

'Of course,' the woman replied. 'I pick the battle target when you declare war against her. Now…' she paused. 'I activate Fairy Meteor Crush and equip it to my rose, allowing her damage to penetrate. Now attack.'

'Not so fast,' the blonde interrupted, as her face down monster, Flying Kamakiri 1 was destroyed. 'I activate Begone Knave which returns your fallen angel to your hand, which triggers my Spring of Rebirth and gives me 500 life points.'

That left her with 3000.

'I return Dreamsprite to my hand to resummon Fallen Angel of Roses, and since she left the field, Fairy Meteor Crush is sent to the graveyard.'

She looked over the remaining cards in her hand. 'I play Altar of Mists. With this, I can move a ritual monster or spell to my hand during my second standby phase. Turn end.'

Zoe drew. 'With my Flying Kamakiri 1 sent to the graveyard due to battle, I can summon a wind attribute monster with less than 1500 attack points from my deck. I select Lady Ninja Yae and summon her in defence mode.'

The purple clad green haired woman appeared grinning.

'I now activate Ante. So we both pick a monster in our hands. The higher level stays. The lower is sent to the graveyard with a thousand life points.'

'Hey, you already know what my cards are!'

'You don't know mine though.' She revealed the one she had selected. Mist Valley Apex Avian.

'I select Meltiel, Sage of the Sky then,' Hana sighed, discarding it and taking a thousand points of damage, equalising the score. 'Anything else.'

'Of course.' There was a slight pause, then… 'I activate Lady Yae's effect, discarding Mist Valley Apex Avian to return Ivy Shackles  and Altar of Mists to your hand.'

'Seems pointless,' Koji muttered.

'Not necessarily,' Koichi replied.

'That's right.' Zoe eyed the twins. 'Koji, you could have a little more faith in me.'

'I said it _seems_ pointless. Not that it _is_.'

Koichi just laughed and shook his head while the girl just continued with her turn. 'I now return Yae to my hand to special summon Mist Condor in defence then end my turn while gaining 500 life points from Spring of Rebirth.'

'I go then.' Hana drew a card, then looked at the three already there, all of which had already been played once, a slightly disadvantageous move. 'I play Altar of Tribute again, then I resummon my Dreamsprite and attack with Fallen Angel of Roses. Attack Mist Condor.'

The monster was destroyed, leaving a face down on Zoe's field and a face up spell on Hana's.

'I play a face down and end my turn.'

'I draw then.' She paused for a moment, considering. Then she grinned, played a face down monster, and ended her turn.

'I draw two cards thanks to Pot of Greed, then sacrifice my Dreamsprite to summon Fallen Angel Desire.'

'Go, Compulsory Evacutation Device.'

The woman faltered. Evidently, she hadn't been expecting that, but she quickly recovered, playing her own face down. 'Go Magic Jammer. I discard my Ivy Shackles to negate your trap.'

Zoe winced. 'There went that plan.'

Koichi just shook his head, ignoring the two curious looks he received in return.

'Desire's effect allows her to give up a thousand attack points to destroy your monster.'

The blonde grinned. 'Doesn't matter. My Penguin Soldier sends them both back to your hand before she suceeds.'

'What?' her eyes widened as her field was cleaned out. All she had was one card in her hand (while giving 500 life points to her opponent), which she played face down. 'I play Graceful Charity to renew my hand, then end my turn.'

'All right. I draw.' All right. She had enough pieces now. 'I play Terraforming to move Divine Wind of Mist Valley to my hand, and now I'll activate the field spell.

'Oh, I get it now.' Hana frowned. 'Perhaps I underestimated you after all.'

'That's right.' The girl gave a thumbs up before continuing. 'I summon Mist Valley Thunderbird, and then I play Monster Reborn to summon out Mist Valley Apex Avian from my graveyard.'

'Avian lockdown,' the woman muttered. And the other's life points would just keep on increasing. Her face-down was also useless thanks to the other's special effect. But that didn't mean she didn't have a fighting chance. It just meant she's got more of a challenge than she bargained for.

'Avian, attack directly.'

There was another use for the trap though. 'I activate Wabaku,'

'I activate Avian's effect, returning my Mist Valley Thunderbird to my hand to destroy your trap. Now, my thunderbird returns thanks to its effect.'

'But it cannot attack this turn,' Hana reminded as her life points decreased to 300. Luckily too, because it would have wiped her out.

'But my Divine Wind of Mist Valley summons a monster from my deck,' Zoe reminded. 'And I select Mist Valley Soldier and I play him in attack mode.'

That left two monsters that could be used thanks to Avian's effect. Even more problematic.

'This is my second stand-by phase, so now my Altar's effect activates, allowing me to add End of the World to my hand.'

Not that it'll do much good, she thought. Unless there was a way to shut down that Avian's effect. The problem was, there was an unlimited supply of monsters to use.

She closed her eyes before opening them to look at her drawn card. It was her last hope for this duel and the duel she had been looking for.

But perhaps she didn't have to go that far after all. The match she had gone towards had been brought to her from the most unlikely of candidates.

It was Herald of Orange Light. And it just might be enough.

'I summon Crystal Rose Angel in attack mode. Attack that thunderbird.'

'Why would she do that?' Koji asked.

'So thunderbird's attack doesn't keep on crippling her moves,' Koichi replied

'She better have more cards up her sleeve then.'

'Maybe. We'll see.'

Zoe's life point meter dropped to 3700.

'Now I activate my monster's effect,' the woman continued.

'Avian negates that by returning Mist Valley Soldier to my hand,' the blonde countered.

'Perhaps,' Hana shrugged. 'But my Herald of Orange Light can negate that if I send it and another fairy type from my hand to the graveyard.'

'Hey, that's mine!' Koji exclaimed from the sidelines.

'And thanks to divine wind,' Zoe countered. 'I can summon my shaman and return him to my hand to negate that.'

'So you're out of cards.'

'No I'm not.' Zoe pointed at her field spell. 'I've still got this.'

'I then activate End of the World.'

'I return Divine Wind of Mist Valley to negate and destroy it.'

'Then I end my turn with a face down.'

She just had to hope it would be enough. Though Apex Avian could in essence turn his ability upon himself. It all depended on the timing.

She can activate that, Zoe thought as her life points rose to 4600 thanks to Spring of Rebirth. But that would have to be one powerful card to turn the duel around at this stage.

'I-'

She was immediately interrupted.

'I activate Angel Tear, removing four fairy type monsters from my graveyard to summon Fallen Angel Desire from it to the field. And with 3000 attack points, it'll take down any target.'

'Maybe,' Zoe replied. 'If you can pull it off.'

'Why not?' Hana snapped. 'You've got no more Mist Valley cards.'

'There's Mist Valley Apex Avian himself,' Zoe reminded. 'And its well worth the sacrifice when you're field's empty in return.'

And it was. And the only card in her hand, they both knew, was Ruin, Queen of Oblivion. Desire's effect couldn't activate until the main phase. They were still in standby. But she couldn't have afforded to wait, lest the other reactivated the field spell or resummoned one of her monsters.

'All right. I summon Lady Ninja Yae in attack mode. Go, direct attack.'

Then both monster and human cheered as the other's life points hit zero.

'I was wrong,' Hana confessed, coming up before Zoe. 'You did prove to be quite the challenge after all. Here.' She handed over Draining Shield and her five locator cards, but Zoe shook her head.

'Keep the locator cards,' she said. 'I didn't duel for them.' She grinned. 'Don't you want to duel Mai Valentine?'

'Well, yes but…' the woman faltered. She felt a little like she was getting told off by a girl at least ten years her junior. Not to mention she lost to the said girl.

'But nothing. I just wanted my friend's card back.' There was a brief pause. 'And to prove a point.' Another pause, before she smiled sheepishly. 'Truth be told, I lost my locator card ages ago. This is the first duel I've won like ever.'

* * *

><p>'What?' JP gaped at the card once Zoe handed it back to him. 'But you're just as bad as card games as I am.'<p>

She winked at him. 'Exactly. So next time, if I hear those words out of your mind again-' She left the rest of the threat hanging.


	8. Herald of Perfection

Author's Notes

Zombie Master has one weird personality doesn't he? Cracks up at the most obscure things.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8<span>

Herald of Perfection

'Ooh, I can't believe that Weevil,' Joey grumbled, playing with a locator card. 'At least I taught him a lesson.'

'That was a neat match though,' Takuya sighed, leaning back.

'Sure if it's not your deck that's infected.' But there was no bite in the tone. 'Ah, can't be bothered cooking. Let's go out for dinner.'

JP and Tommy sat up at that. 'Can we call the others too?'

'As long as you lot aren't mooching off me.'

'Uh…' They all looked at each other.

Joey sighed. 'You know I'm almost broke.'

Takuya laughed awkwardly. 'At least we've gotten your house to liveable standards.'

'Not that,' the other said, somewhat exasperatedly. 'I meant specifically at some expensive-' He cut himself off when he realised he didn't have enough for that himself, and the others did chip in what they could and split the chores. After all, three days was a guest, past that was rent. Though he did try to say no; apparently he had Takuya had the same stubbornness levels and add JP and Tommy on his side and there was an unfair weighting. 'Never mind. I'm practically broke myself. Dad!'

No-one answered.

'Sheesh, he's still not home.'

'You know,' JP said slowly. 'We'd never have this problem back home. Our parents always take care of everything.'

'Yeah…' Takuya put his head on his hands. 'I'm really sorry guys, for getting you all stuck here.'

'Hey.' The eldest waved his hand half-heartedly. 'We all agreed.'

'Except Koichi.'

'Actually,' Tommy interrupted. 'He didn't really fight all that hard against it so he was probably on two minds. Like at the Dark Continent.' He whispered the last part seeing as they had left it out of the explanation.' There was a brief pause. 'But I miss my parents and my brother.'

There was a longer, awkward silence.

'At least it's no-one's birthday this time,' JP pointed out. 'And at least we know no time is passing.' There was another pause. 'Unless that guy was wrong. He's been wrong one.'

'Yeah, but that's easier to test than the virtuality.'

'True.'

Silence again.

'This is very interesting and all,' Joey interrupted finally. 'But dinner?'

'How about we just go shopping?' Tommy suggested reasonably. 'Since there's nothing in the fridge or any of the cabinets.'

'Or the pantry,' JP added.

'I'm _not_ moving from this couch,' Joey groaned.

'Do we know the way?' The three looked at each other.

'I don't,' JP said flatly.

'Well, I guess it's me then,' Tommy shrugged. 'I think I know where everything is.'

'Money's in the draw,' the dirty blonde yawned.

'No worries. I've got enough.'

* * *

><p>'Oh, isn't this a cosy reunion?' Téa commented as she and Zoe bumped into Tommy and Koji, who had jumped into each other just a moment before.<p>

The others all laughed awkwardly. 'We seemed to have made a habit of this,' Tommy commented. 'Always bumping into each other randomly.'

'I don't know about that,' Koji said. 'I haven't seen you for a few days.'

He shrugged, a little embarrassed. 'I saw Koichi yesterday. Beat that other guy in two turns flat.'

'Oh, with what?'

Téa sighed. 'They're back on duel monsters. Is that all boys talk about?'

'Tommy's a killer for games,' Zoe explained. 'But I have to admit Koji's not. Unless he just wants to beat Koichi.'

'Sibling rivalry?'

The blonde shrugged. 'Don't have any.'

'Me either.'

They stopped talking and managed to catch the explanation.

'He used two Soul Absorbing Bone Towers, Everlasting Underworld Cannon, Paralysing Chain, Hollowed Lotus and Il Blud.'

'Um…how?'

'Well, Soul Absorbing Bone Tower sends two cards to the graveyard per special summon each. Paralysing Chain deals 300 points of damage for every card sent from the deck to the graveyard. He made three special summons, which triggers that cannon, then there's Hollowed Lotus' effect, then attack damage. So yeah, he won.'

'That's not like Koichi.'

The younger boy shrugged awkwardly. 'Well, he kinda beat me and Koichi was kinda mad at him, and well…'

'No wonder he won so fast.' The younger twin face palmed his forehead. 'Let me guess, he won your card back.'

'Yep.'

'Did he take the locator cards?'

'Yep, all three of them.'

'So he's got four.'

'Five actually.'

* * *

><p>'Tommy says you've got five locator cards now. You only need one more.'<p>

'Sure,' the other said, a little disinterestedly.

'Hey, what's the matter?' His eyebrows furrowed in concern.

He lifted his wrist, where the number '020' was still present in digital numbers. 'After this, we've got nineteen more worlds.'

'No time is passing back home.'

'But it's passing for us. At least we're together. And it's not like it's the first time. All the same though I think I prefer the Digital World. How much good is a bunch of cards and transparent spirits if we run into real trouble?'

'Why would we run into real trouble?'

'Not here, but what about somewhere else? Koji, I don't want to get stuck in another war.' There was a pause, then an almost silent: 'I don't want to die again.'

'What brought this on all of a sudden?'

'It's just that…' He faltered a moment, looking into his lap instead of at his brother. But Koji wouldn't have that, placing his thumb and index finger below the other's chin and coaxing it up. 'It's just that this feels so real. Sure the rest of our family isn't around, and neither is anyone else's, but that's exactly how it was in the Digital World. It's a place we belong, even if it's not the place we were born in. We've only been her for about a fortnight, but if someone or something threatened his place, wouldn't you try to save it. Wouldn't we all?'

'Well, yeah. I suppose, but I think we'd do that even if we didn't belong. We're too soft.'

The other chuckled a little. 'You know what I mean.'

'Sort of. You've got a weird way of explaining things and it doesn't always make generic sense.'

'As long as someone gets it.'

'Yeah…' His voice trailed off. 'But what really brought this on?'

'The tournament really. You saw Joey's duel with that Weevil character. That was a rigged duel, and we're still in the preliminaries of the tournament. Who knows how much further others will go, especially with those Rare Hunters and the Egyptian Dark Cards floating around.'

'How can you be sure?'

'Koji.' Koichi closed his eyes. 'A gigantic red dragon that looks like Orisis, the Egyptian god of death and rebirth. Read it somewhere,' he added, seeing his brother about to ask.

'That's probably Slifer, the Sky Dragon,' Koji commented, removing his hand from his brother's chin and placing it under his own as he tried to dig it out of all of Takuya's useless ramblings that apparently weren't as useless as they first appeared.

'You remember.'

The other grimaced. 'Apparently I pay more attention than I want to. Traitor ears. Yeah, you would find that funny.'

The other continued to giggle.

'What's so funny?' Yugi asked, suddenly walking in. Koichi immediately stopped laughing and flushed lightly. 'Sibling teases.'

'Somewhat,' the elder twin mumbled.

Yugi took a seat on the single chair as the twins had together claimed the sofa.

'So, how are you two enjoying the tournament?' he asked, arranging himself comfortably.

The twins exchanged glances, then shrugged simultaneously. 'It's certainly intense.'

'Well, it is the largest tournament in the state,' the high-schooler shrugged himself. 'Otherwise? Nothing too out of the ordinary?'

'We don't know what your ordinary is,' Koji pointed out. 'But no, nothing crazier than winding up in this place.' There was a pause when they both waited for Koichi to add something, but he did not. 'You said each deck works best with the person that built it, whether that be physically or subconsciously. What if we used someone else's deck?'

Yugi thought for a moment. 'I think it depends on the deck, and who it belongs to. And the reason why you would use it. The deck may accept or reject the user depending on the intention.'

Koji nodded. 'What about if we swapped?'

The other's brow furrowed. 'You and your brother?'

Koji nodded again.

'I don't know. Twins have a habit of breaking conventional rules.'

Koji turned to his brother, who raised himself slightly off the couch. 'You…want too…?'

Koji nodded a third time.

'Why?'

'I just do.'

Koichi looked at him for a long moment, so long that his brother thought he would refuse but he did not, instead lifting off the couch completely to retrieve the duel disks and then returning.

'We could have just used the mat,' Koji said, but truthfully he preferred the holograms. He got the feeling Koichi preferred the mats though, but the disks meant they didn't have to mentally keep score.

The twins played a game of rock paper scissors where Koji won (twice in the same day, he was starting to slightly narrow the lead his brother had on him) and took the first turn.

'I summon Disgraced Mage in attack mode. Next, I'll activate the Overpowering Eye spell to allow him to attack directly.'

'That was quick,' Koichi remarked, but to the other's surprise, he didn't lose any life points at all.

'Huh?'

Koichi revealed two cards in his hand. 'I sent Herald of Green Light and Hecatrice to the graveyard to negate and destroy Overpowering Eye. And thanks to Hecatrice's effect, I can add Valhala, Hall of the Fallen to my hand.'

Koji shrugged though he had to admit that was a good call, tossing face downs. 'I play Pyramid of Wonders, so my monster gains 200 attack points for every monster on your side of the field. Turn end.'

Koichi drew a card, before looking at his hand. He had Herald of Purple Light, so if one of those face downs was a trap, it would be useless. But still, that only left three cards he could think of using as he needed a fairy type to remain in his hand. He needed more. 'I play Graceful Charity, then I activate the continuous spell Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen and then I activate Card of Sanctity before summoning out Athena, and her special effect deals 600 points of damage to you.'

'And you said I was fast?' Koji asked as his life points dropped to 3200. Not only that, his now 1900 attack point monster was staring down the 2600 point strong Athena. And it was just the second turn.

Of course, if he attacked, there was Negate Attack, and Tutan Mask of he tried to stop it…unless he had Herald of Purple Light as well. In that case, he would be in big trouble. Though there was no way he could deal another 3400 points of damage with _his_ deck…was there?

'I still have my normal summon,' Koichi continued. 'I play The Agent of Mystery, Earth and use her special ability to move The Agent of Miracles, Juiter to my hand. And since earth is a fairy type, you take another 600 points of damage.'

Koji's life points dropped to 2800.

'Next I activate Preparation of Rites.'

Koji's mouth fell open in shock, even if he wouldn't normally look that undignified in front of someone that wasn't his family. 'Don't tell me you sent Dawn of the Herald and Herald of Perfection to the graveyard.'

Koichi nodded, taking them back out thanks to his spell's effect.

Now Koji was really hoping Herald of Purple Light wasn't in the other's hand. Otherwise the duel was over.

'Now, Athena destroys Disgraced Mage.'

'I counter with Negate Attack.'

'And I counter with Herald of Purple Light, discarding it and The Agent of Judgement, Saturn.'

Yugi raised an eyebrow as Koji gaped. 'Hey, no fair.'

Koichi shrugged, his expression unreadable.

'I return Disgraced Mage and the cards remaining in my hand to my deck to negate the battle damage.'

'All right then. The Agent of Mystery, Earth attacks directly.'

Koji's life points dropped to 1800.

'I activate Advanced Mage Spell Incantation which then allows me to quick-play the ritual card, Dawn of the Herald, sacrificing The Agent of Mystery, Earth on my field and The Agent of Miracles, Jupiter in my hand to summon Herald of Perfection.'

It had exactly 1800 points. And Koichi had used up every single card in his hand to accomplish that finale. But it had been a risky play; if the other face down could have stopped…but not at all, Koji smiled. He, Koichi that is, wouldn't have exactly lost anything. But he had to wonder still if he could have pulled off a combination of the same power.

'Koichi's pulled off a combination like that with his own deck,' Mekuzi said quietly, causing Koji to jump a little in shock. 'Light and dark remember Koji. Either could make that sacrifice.'

'What does that have to do with anything?' Koichi asked, his eyes darkening a shade.

'Just that they're essentially one and the same power,' the Zombie replied, eyeing his human, a little concerned before turning to Koji. 'Koichi, despite his outward passiveness, is far more aggressive than you should the situation call for it. You're more cautious, and also more forgiving, both to others and yourself.'

'Oh.'

Koichi suddenly stood as his spirit vanished, taking the loaned deck back and taking his own. 'I'm going to bed.'

'Wait,' Koji called.

He stopped.

'What did he mean by "they're essentially one and the same power"?'

'Light and darkness are just elements, and they're the foundation of all existence. One cannot exist without the other, but we humans, or rather, those that came before us, have called one side light and the other darkness. Just like white has been called white and black has been called black. What would happen if someone changed them?'

'Apart from getting everyone confused, I'd say nothing.'

'Exactly.'

'They're just opposites. That's it. So that's where yin and yang comes from.' The couch creaked as Koji stood as well. 'That makes sense. But why can I suddenly see your spirits?'

'Spirit,' Koichi corrected as Zombie Master started laughing again, unknown to the other. 'What's so funny this time?'


	9. Rare Hunter

Author's Notes

Strings is rare hunter that challenges Yugi in episodes 65-67. I know Marik makes him go straight to Yugi in the anime, but he has to technically be a contestant so other people are going to challenge him and he is going to have to challenge other people to test the test the combinations his deck offers before pitting it against Yugi. Also, in the event that he couldn't reach Yugi till the finals, he'll need the locator cards.

As for those, you have to have six different ones, not six of any locator cards in my mind verse. The six different specifics fit together like a puzzle to form the map. Otherwise there'd have to be exactly 42 contestants, not allowing for the sneak entries like the Rare Hunter with Exodia or Bakura (or the Frontier gang). And that would be a problem with extra locator cards floating about. So what Kaiba had to do was give eight of one specific type to eight different people, and give the others to others. Therefore there were only a total of 8 of one specific type but any number of the rest, so only a maximum of eight people could wind up with the right combination of locator cards. Of course, it would be a problem if someone wound up with more than one copy of that particular one, but let's ignore that.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think. Pwetty please?

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 9<span>

Rare Hunter

'What was I trying to prove anyway?' Koji asked himself out loud but quietly enough as to not wake his sleeping brother. When they had first been introduced to the game, he thought he would be the one with the advantage. Koichi cared for very few games, though he was notably better at chess. That theoretically should have left him at a disadvantage. But no.

Just like the Digital World. A human spirit powerful enough to bring a fusion evolution to a double-cross of swords pressed to his neck. A human/beast combination enough to defeat a projection that had thwarted two beast spirits, one human spirit and two fusion spirits. Someone who was brave enough to give their own life to save others while they could only wait for the end, unable to move between pain and fear.

He hoped it was a normal part of brotherhood. Perhaps it was. It seemed so in any case. Shinya always followed Takuya no matter how much the other tried to shrug him off. And hadn't the whole mess with Duskmon started as a result of envy fuelled with anguish and evil fire?

Why was he wasting good sleep thinking about all that anyway? Ok, fine. He was somewhat jealous of his brother. But so was Koichi. Only, unlike him, his brother would actually admit it. But that was more because he had forced it out.

Whatever. He snorted a little to himself before closing his eyes. He would worry if there wasn't any want on either side. Seriously, they _were_ humans after all.

And he thought _Koichi_ thought too much.

He resolved to give the two locator cards to his brother in the morning. He had won them fair and square…though that would take a little convincing.

* * *

><p>'So you've got all six locator cards?' Yugi asked, kneeling over the elder twin who had spread them out over the bed sheet. 'Wow.'<p>

'I won four of them off the same person,' the other said awkwardly. 'But I think I've got more than one duplicate.'

'What do you mean?'

The other stacked them up carefully, and no holographic projected map appeared where it should have.

'Hmm…that's strange.'

He picked up the pictures individually, looking at them in the light before separating them. 'So you need one of each of six types of locator cards to get into the finals. Not six locator cards.' There was a pause. 'That Kaiba sure is slippery.'

Koichi took the cards back, separating them and removing the duplicate and triplicate. 'I still need two locator cards then.' He looked at them, before laughing. 'I didn't even enter the Battle City Tournament and now look at me. But it would have been unfair getting in with only two duels, one against my own brother and _shouldn't count_.' He glared at his brother, who ignored him.

Yugi laughed. 'I better check my own locator cards then. Going to look for a challenger today?'

'I suppose, since it's Koji's turn to mind the shop…right?'

Koji nodded from his bed, the sheets of which refused to listen to him. Koichi grinned a little at his little brother's dilemma and went over to help.

'That was the perfect opportunity for a pillow fight,' Yugi commented once the twins managed to get the sheet spread out properly between them. Zombie Monster laughed behind them as he danced around and tried to ruin their hard work, but seeing as he was transparent, it didn't work out all too well.

The twins shrugged at each other. 'It's too early for one.'

'Then when?'

'Normally at one in the morning,' Koji said blandly.

'He's serious,' Koichi affirmed. 'One of us is normally up at that point.'

* * *

><p>Wandering the streets, he looked for a duellist that wasn't in a duel. What he hadn't been expecting was one to fall backwards at his feet, too quickly for his reflexes to kick in.<p>

'What?' he gasped, seeing the guy out cold, before looking up into the bald and strangely pointed face that had walked up. The perpetually wide eyes with small blue irises stared into the natural ocean blue that were wide with surprise. Actually, it was a little more than surprise. The entire look was a little creepy, like a doll. And not like the ones he liked to carve, much to his friends' amusement. Those ones showed all sorts of expressions. This man's was entirely blank.

'You know Yugi Muto,' he said expressionlessly.

'Who doesn't?' Koichi shot back rhetorically, sounding eerily like his brother in that statement. Truth be told, he was dodging the question all because the guy crept him out. His spirits too were frightfully silent and invisible. But it wasn't like he could pull a vanishing act.

'You know what I mean,' the other deadpanned. 'Where is he?'

Truth be told, he had no idea and he said as much, though he neglected to mention the finer details.

'You lie.'

Not exactly, but apparently his lying skills hadn't improved one little bit since his time in the digital world.

'Duel me.'

'What?' He decided right then and there he really didn't want to duel this guy, but-

He made one move to back away, and suddenly the guy was behind him.

'Duel me,' he repeated flatly.

Koichi stared at him, then relented. What could one duel do after all?

It was a shame _he_ hadn't seen the anime, so he didn't know he was getting in way over his head.

* * *

><p>The number of contestants had been slashed by more than half so it was no wonder that the streets were filled with larger and fewer crowds than little ones. Yugi had planned to give himself a day off and simply scope the remaining of the competition with his friends, but when he spied Tommy, JP and Takuya, the latter looking like he was panicking in one of the crowds, he curiously headed over.<p>

'What's up?' he asked.

'Koji's going to kill me,' Takuya wailed, a little overdramatically. 'Gah, I knew I should have explained the-' He stopped when Zoe, who he hadn't seen, elbowed him in the gut. 'Oww...'

'He won't kill you,' JP said exasperated, before reconsidering. 'Maybe he will.'

'What's up?' Yugi repeated, trying to squeeze his way into the front. Luckily he was small.

The group, before Takuya gave an explanation. 'Yugi, stop them!'

'Stop who?'

He finally got a clear view of the field…partly anyway. All he could really see was a dragon that looked somewhat familiar. Whatever it was though, it struck a chord.

'That's one of the Egyptian Gods,' the Pharoah said, appearing behind him.

'Hold on a sec,' Yugi responded, his own eyes widening. 'So who's-'

'Koichi! And we never told him, so he's got no idea what he's in for.' Takuya hit himself over the head. 'Koji is going to kill me for letting Koichi get into this mess.'

'He won't,' Zoe snapped. 'You didn't _let_ Koichi do anything, and what's the big problem anyway?'

'People get hurt, like actually hurt, when they battle the Egyptian Gods.'

'What?'

They were cut off by a startled scream. Slifer had struck.

Yugi pushed all the way through. There was no mistake; that was an Egyptian God. And there was no need to get someone else mixed up with what was meant to be his destiny.

'Stop this match right now,' he declared, at the same time Koichi fell to his knees.

'That felt real,' he exclaimed, clutching his shirt. 'What's going on?'

'Long story,' Yugi muttered to him. 'Get your friend Takuya to explain it.' Then he turned back to Strings who seemed more than happy to stop the match.

'Yugi Muto, I challenge you.'

'Very well.' He closed his eyes, feeling the Millennium Puzzle against his chest. _Yu Gi Oh_…

The Pharoah stared at his robotic opponent.

'It's time to duel.'

* * *

><p>'Are you okay?' Takuya repeated for the uptenth time.<p>

'I'm fine,' Koichi responded a little exasperatedly. Initially it had been a little amusing and concerning watching everyone crowd around him, but now it was a little annoying. There was a such thing called personal space. 'You're acting like my heart stopped beating or something. I probably jinxed myself yesterday anyhow.'

Zoe forced a laugh at that, not even hearing the last comment. 'Like we haven't seen that before.'

The other winced at the blatant reminder. 'Right, sorry. But I'm fine. Really. It hurt at the time, but I'm fine now. Not even a scratch.'

'Is he telling the truth?' Tommy blinked at Koji.

Koji nodded. 'No scratches. I checked.'

'Oh?'

The twins blushed in unison. 'We're brothers,' they exclaimed together. 'So get any dirty thoughts out of your head,' Koji finished, glaring specifically at JP and Takuya.

The former laughed sheepishly but the other still looked a little guilty until Koji continued.

'I'm not going to kill you Takuya, because I'm the one who told you not to tell us too much. It's my fault if anything.'

'No it's not,' Koichi interrupted. 'It's no-one's fault. Nothing happened to _me_ anyway.'

'But what about that unconscious guy,' Takuya continued. 'In the anime, Strings went straight to Yugi. No-one got caught in the crossfire. But this time-' He cut himself off. 'You guys were right. Things have changed.'

'We just have to hope that it doesn't change anything with our world,' JP said, before standing. 'We'd better get back.'

'Yeah.' Tommy and Takuya stood up well. 'See you tomorrow.'

'See ya,' the twins chorused from the couch. Actually, that wasn't Koichi's exact words but they were somewhat drowned out by his brother's sharper tone.

Yugi walked in just as they were walking out.

'I'd better get going too,' Zoe said, quickly making an exit. 'Téa's probably wondering where I disappeared to.'

'You okay?' Yugi asked once she was gone too.

Koichi nodded. No point being exasperated with someone who hadn't the time to ask.

'What happened?' he asked. 'Did you beat him?'

Yugi nodded, then shook his head when he realised the other was holding out his locator cards. 'I couldn't-' he protested.

'I would have lost,' Koichi said quietly. 'And you beat him, so they're yours by right. This is a competition I want no more part in.'

'He preferred art competitions,' Koji said, coming around and seating himself on the armrest.

'Yeah.'

There was a slight pause, then: 'Is that enough to get you into the finals?'

Yugi looked at the cards, squinting in the dark. 'I can't tell,' he sighed finally. 'I'll check them in the morning.'

* * *

><p>'Wake up!' <span>Zombie Master<span> shrieked loudly, seeing the wrists of the two sleeping humans beginning to flash. Actually, it was the thing on their wrists, but both were under the blankets-

-until Koichi woke with a start upon hearing the shout and fell on his brother, effectively waking him up too.

'Oww…' Koji groaned, trying to get up. Koichi just stared blurrily at the hysterical Zombie Master. 'What's going on?'

A sleepy Yugi mirrored the sentiment at the door. The answer he received wasn't exactly what he expected though. Though it never had time to actually click before the frame froze.


	10. The Sinnoh Region

Author's Notes

New world now. And this one is especially fun to play with. Read and find out why.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10<span>

The Sinnoh Region

Takuya blurrily wondered what Téa's parents and Joey's father would think when they found them missing in bed that morning. That was before it suddenly occurred to him that they had been in three different places and his eyes flew open in slight panic as he searched for the three friends that hadn't been less than ten feet away when he settled into sleep.

It took his brain a few minutes to process what he saw instead. His bag was sitting at his feet, and on top of it, stretched on the canvas and basking in the warm sun, was a purple cat. One he recognised immediately as a Pokémon, though it took him a few minutes to remember the name. Espeon. One of Eevee's evolutions.

Sitting up, he recognised a few more Pokémon. A Gallade leaning against a tree, arms crossed. A Vespiquen on a branch of the tree. An Electabuzz and Abomansnow snoring in the shade behind a large boulder. All of them were asleep. And, as the leaves above them shifted slightly and light reflected off Espeon's tail, he noted a much smaller version of the device he and his friends adorned, now reading '019.' A closer look told him the others were also sprouting the same ornament.

'So we're in the Pokémon world,' he muttered to himself, jumping to the only logical conclusion. 'And my friends have somehow turned into Pokémon.'

After standing in the middle of the clearing for a moment longer, he decided to go over to Abomansnow. He wasn't too sure about Espeon, but he thought he could work him out by the process of elimination. Between his old obsession and his brother's new one with both the anime and the game, he was quite familiar with a great assortment of Pokémon, luckily including the five before him. As such, he knew Vespiquen was a part flying, part bug, and a female only species, which meant that if his earlier assumption was correct, that was Zoe. Electabuzz was a thunder type, so that was probably JP. Abomansnow: part ice, part wood, and looking rather like a bear in hibernation. Gallade was a part psychic, part fighting and quite the fighter, a Koji if he ever saw one. Which left Espeon and Koichi…which wasn't exactly unexpected, but certainly was interesting.

His choice to wake Tommy first, currently Abomansnow, was based on two factors: the way each human reacted when they were awoken prematurely, and their Pokémon counterparts. Zoe was a girl, and that stinger looked pretty threatening. JP could, in his present state, dump 20 kilovolts of electricity on him if he surprised him, and neither twin was an appreciative awakener. He couldn't decide which was worse: a angry half-asleep cat or a startled night watchman. The worse Tommy would do was yawn and roll over.

Only it didn't work out entirely as planned because he tripped over a belt lying in the grass and landed half on his bag…and right on Espeon's tail. The Pokémon shrieked in surprise and pain and shot up, Takuya hurriedly moving his head, and the feline spent the next two minutes chasing his tail…until Takuya managed to give a brief synopsis of the situation to four very confused Pokémon (Abomansnow was miraculously still asleep).

Then they stumbled upon another problem. They seemed to have no problem understanding Takuya, but all the goggle-wearing brunette could make out were varying assortments of the Pokémon's' names. Which left miming and yes/no questions as conversation from one side.

'Great,' Takuya muttered, fiddling with the belt, which had six empty Poké balls clipped on, wit the same serial numbers as the others' bands engraved. He thought so anyway; he couldn't really remember the numbers. 'Okay, let's see.' He picked the first ball up and read the number.

No-one answered.

'Process of elimination again,' he sighed, picking the second one. '143 257?'

Gallade grunted, and Takuya pressed the button, returning the Pokémon to its ball.

It took a moment to calm the panic, and a reappearance of a vaguely annoyed Gallade to placate the panic that arose.

Once he sorted out which Poké ball belonged to which human, without returning them as Espeon for one was looking rather apprehensively at the red and white objects as he clasped the belt around his waist, he picked up the second object: a Pokédex. It was red and black, the same colour scheme as his D-tector, and if he remembered correctly, it was a Sinnoh Region model.

Which meant they were somewhere in the Sinnoh region. Great, he thought. He was only at the start of Pokémon DP Battle Dimension as far as having seen the episodes went. All he really knew was to try and avoid, or be wary of, Team Rocket, definitely try and avoid Hunter J (though there may not be any interest on her part…hopefully) and try and avoid a certain Paul from Veilstone City. Oh, and if they bump into an Ash, Dawn and Brock, it would probably be a good idea to stick with them. They could be the Pokémon world equivalent of Yugi, Tristan and Téa…well, the Sinnoh version anyway.

He decided to use the Pokédex to get the stats on his friends…err, Pokémon. He had to wonder how they would react if he through them into battle. Koji/Gallade would probably start fighting him, and Electabuzz would probably just ignore him. Tommy was familiar with the game too (he certainly played it enough with Shinya) so he'd probably help if the need came up, but maybe he was underestimating the others. They'd all fight if the need arose.

At least it didn't matter so much that Abomansnow had slept through the entire explanation.

Espeon had stopped chasing his tail and was now staring wide-eyed and everyone and everything. We probably look like giants to him right now, Takuya mused, before grinning, kneeling down and offering a hand. 'Want a boost?' he asked.

Espeon regarded him, then agreed, bounding gently up his arm and settling into the crook of his neck. The others all laughed as Takuya straightened, and Vespiquen let out a rather girlish squeal. He would have glared at the laughing Gallade, but Koji would never laugh at his expense if it meant laughing at the expense of his own brother, which lead to only one viable conclusion. The image they made together was just too cute to resist.

Now majorly curious, he used his cell phone to snap a quick picture. Perhaps the haste wasn't necessary as Espeon hadn't moved at all, but it was always better to be safe than sorry, a rule he didn't often succumb to. And he had to admit, the picture was cute, especially since Espeon had an adorable little blush coating his lavender cheeks.

He then decided to snap a few pictures of the others, earning a glare from Gallade and a wake (but thankfully placate) Abomansnow. It didn't take too long to bring him up to speed.

'Okay…' Takuya mused aloud once that was done. His Pokédex read around ten in the morning, which meant breakfast time. He looked around, remembering there were normally edibles to be found in the forest, so there was bound to be something edible somewhere. 'Let's go.'

Espeon didn't exactly have to do anything, enjoying a ride on Takuya's shoulder. It might be odd or uncomfortable or awkward, but there were several problems associated with him walking. His size for one thing; he was a lot smaller than the others, and a lot less threatening. He was thankful for the 'less threatening' part, but being small did have the downside of betting unnoticed on occasion; his tail had already been stepped on once! He also didn't like not being able to have a full peripheral view, which was a little problematic when so close to the ground, and he would get a sore neck craning his head up all the time, and he couldn't get as much sunlight on his skin, but they were all Espeon related matters. Koichi, for himself, found the warmth of a friend quite comforting so he really didn't mind.

Of course, the others had a little disadvantage in regards to the larger size. They were too big to ride or to be carried, so they had to walk…or fly in Vespiquen's case.

* * *

><p>They'd been walking for ten minutes or so before Espeon, Gallade and Vespiquen all jumped…or rather, the first two jumped and the latter jerked in the air. The psychic cat landed cleanly on his feet by the suddenly tense Gallade, before jumping neatly again as a hole appeared under him.<p>

'Espe',' he snapped lightly, jumping away from another hole that suddenly appeared.

'Diglet,' came the reply under Takuya's feet, before a part of the ground suddenly vanished. He overbalanced and pitched backwards, arms flailing…but he never hit the ground. Instead, Espeon was holding him in the grip of a Confusion, and two seriously annoyed digimon were trying to catch the elusive and troublesome digimon poking holes and upsetting their balance. Abomansnow did the sensible thing and climbed up a tree (so long as the Diglet didn't upset the tree) and Vespiquen was in the air and thus unaffected. In addition, she had the bird-eye version advantage. Espeon had the advantage of being able to predict his opponent's moves using the currents that travelled above and below ground, so while he didn't exactly appreciate having to move so frequently, he had less of a risk of falling due to the small yet expanding holes.

Electabuzz suddenly fell and let loose a Thunder on reflex, which Gallade, seeing as Espeon was _en garde_ elsewhere, redirected upwards with his own Psychic. Once Takuya had his balance back and the over-enthusiastic Diglet had prompted Gallade to stumble with another crack, Espeon finally caught the elusive Pokémon in the grip of a Confusion.

Gallade on one knee growled at the little earth digger, who quickly lost its euphoria and burst into tears. The cat-like creature let loose a string of words, none of which Takuya understood, but evidently the others did because Vespiquen shot off perpendicular to their path, returning to minutes later with a burrowing Dugtrio, all while Diglet's waterworks continued.

'Trio, trio!' he said angrily to the little Diglet, who whimpered and brightened on cue.

'Diglet.'

The larger Pokémon looked at Espeon, who released his attack and let his eyes return his natural state.

'Trio,' the Dugtrio thanked, and Espeon nodded.

Gallade harrumphed, causing Vespiquen to giggle. Electabuzz was neither really, though he was inclined to agree with Gallade; it wasn't fun tripping and stumbling over cracks and holes with barely a moment's notice. And it hurt more when you landed, seeing as the body mass landed on the weaker areas of the body. Espeon was advantaged in that particular sense. Not only was he small, but the fine hairs on his body gave him more of a warning. Abomansnow hopped down from his temporary safe haven, causing the ground around him to shake slightly, the electric digimon to fall, and yell something in his way of speech.

* * *

><p>Vespiquen flew ahead, hence she was the first to detect food. The first the others heard about it was the excited squeal, then a fist full of berries landing on the quickly outstretched hands.<p>

'Looks delicious,' the warrior of fire declared as Electabuzz accepted his handful.

Gallade stopped them from digging in however, saying something to the Pokémon at large. Vespiquen and Electabuzz made an odd sort of shrugging motion, the former nibbling a few berries while depositing a handful into Abomansnow's palms as the latter stood on his hind legs. Espeon just flicked his tail as the snow bear sniffed the berries, then gave a grunt of approval and began scarfing them down.

The others followed suit as Gallade accepted a handful and Espeon, using his twin's offered arm as a jumping pad, landed on the branch by the Queen bee and nibbled away from the tree itself, the former buzzing and doing the same.

* * *

><p>Breakfast ended on a rather content note, but what to do after that was still an issue, especially since forests had a tendency of looking rather alike to one another should there not be anything painfully distinguishably obvious by a particular one or one possessed a degree in forestry. None of them did, which really only left them with two options. Either Vespiquen, the only flier, flew off in a random direction to find settlement and risked being lost once it came to linking the wayward group and civilisation, or they all started walking off in some direction and hope it led somewhere, risking being lost in the other sense.<p>

Takuya wasn't keen on the idea of Vespiquen flying off on her own, even more so because she was Zoe. It wasn't that he didn't trust her or didn't think she could take care of herself or anything like that. It was just the principle of the matter. And it wasn't like she could carry anyone with her; considering the relative sizes, the only one who would be able to ride the Queen bee was Espeon…although his paws didn't look like they could maintain an adequate grip. Not to mention Koji would flip if Koichi was off somewhere he didn't know, and no doubt murder and bury him for allowing it, barring whether he actually had allowed it or not.

Vespiquen solved the first problem, picking Espeon gently off the human's shoulders and gripping him tightly around the middle. She let off a stream of words to which Espeon, then Gallade in turn, responded to. The latter seemed somewhat reluctant, but once a lazy Abomansnow cut in, he gave up, sitting cross-legged with a grumpy flop. Vespiquen chirped and took off in a random direction.

'Okay, what do we do in the meantime?'

No-body moved, which was probably the smarter option. It would make it rather difficult for the other two to find them otherwise. It just suddenly hit him how weird it all was.

Then another point hit him. His friends were all Pokémon. What if they got attacked by ferocious wild Pokémon or Team Rocket or that horrible Hunter J? Apparently, the responsibility of trainer had been dumped on him. But then again, how different were they from their human counterparts? Tommy definitely seemed a lot more laid back; it looked like it would take a bulldozer to move him. And Espeon seemed a little looser; he was letting both Takuya and Vespiquen carry him after all. Koji was as cautious and stern as ever; that pose reminded him of the Digital World. And Electabuzz was certainly a lot more…electrifying. Vespiquen seemed a little less self-conscious as well, but one would expect being the only female in a group of otherwise males wasn't a walk in the park. It was okay when it was the six of them, but throw in the rest of the world and you get quite a bit of precognitions.

And him? Since when did he start freaking out about all this stuff anyway? That was Koji's job. Or JP's.

He looked up at the clear sky. Then he yawned. Might be a good idea to take a nap.

'You'll stay awake?' he asked Gallade, who simply grunted.

Taking that as a Koji-like approval, he let his eyes lazily slip shut again.


	11. Claustrophobic Espeon

Author's Notes

Just a side note. Phobias are rather extreme, but for simplicities sake people can label normal fears as phobias. When I said Koichi's claustrophobic, I didn't mean he'll have a panic attack or anything like Yuki from Fruits Basket. When I said he's got Haemophobia though, that's another story.

On another note, remember that Espeon uses Confusion, while Gallade uses Psychic. They're pretty much the same thing, but that's just to differentiate between the twins.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

Claustrophobic Espeon

He didn't notice when he had fallen asleep, waiting for Zoe and Koichi, or should he say Vespiquen and Espeon? The first thing he did notice upon awakening, even before his mind registered the action, was that both had finally returned, and were sleeping soundly. Vespiquen was on the tree branch above Abomansnow, and Espeon was stretched out beside a sunny patch beside Gallade.

He smiled. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been worried. Although it bothered him still how long the pair had taken. Was it possible that civilisation was a far reach?

He groaned loudly. 'Don't tell me I have to go trampling halfway across the country?' he yelled up to the skies…rather stupidly though as he wound up with four annoyed Pokémon. Well…three grumpy in all honesty; Espeon just went back to sleep again and Abomansnow hadn't even twitched and had succeeded in sleeping through the commotion…again.

He looked up to the sky. It looked to be afternoon; the sun was nearly opposing the position they had found it that morning. The sunny patches were far less frequent. In fact, the one Espeon had claimed was the only one in the clearing they had moved to wait in, deciding that the others were more likely to spot them. As were any form of predation, but Takuya _had_ posted Gallade as a guard. Apparently, the other hadn't listened to him, or had been tired, or-

- actually, he didn't look really as lethargic as Electabuzz now rotating his shoulder joints or as Vespiquen flexing her wings.

'Were you asleep?' the only human remaining human asked.

'_No_,' the other responded flatly, closing his eyes again.

'Okay..?' Takuya blinked dumbly for a moment, before doing a double-take. 'Geez, if you could still talk Japanese, why didn't you say something sooner?' There was a pause as he recalled the anime; a Lapras, a Lucario…'You're talking out loud, aren't you?'

Gallade gave him a look.

'C'mon, help me out!'

'_No,_' the Pokémon replied.

'No what?'

There was an annoyed grumble which was definitely out loud as Electabuzz twitched, then Gallade replied. '_No, I'm not talking out loud.'_

'That's better,' Takuya sighed beginning to pace. 'Do you always have to take the long way to explain things?'

'_Do you always have to be slow picking them up?_'

'Hey, you don't even play Pokémon! Or watch the anime.'

'_Between you and Tommy, who needs to?'_

Vespiquen interrupted, showcasing her stinger threateningly and the two quickly clammed up before it escalated into a full blown argument. In fact, Takuya took a step back in surprise, unfortunately towards Gallade and the sleeping Espeon…and he stepped on the other's tail again.

The purple cat shrieked in pain and Takuya was suddenly thrown with a Psychic blast.

'It was an accident,' he yelled as Espeon scrambled desperately for his tail. For good reason too as the red tinge this time wasn't going away and no doubt it hurt seeing as the other was struggling with the tail. He considered chasing after the other, but decided against it after receiving several death glares, but luckily the commotion woke Abomansnow and a quick and controlled Blizzard numbed the pain.

'_If you ever do that again_,' Koji threatened.

'I swear it was an accident,' Takuya cried, standing up properly rather than the odd position he had been in, before quickly ducking onto the next topic while Espeon opened his eyes and thanked Abomansnow. Or at least he thought that was what the other said, not speaking the language of Pokémon. 'Okay, so where's civilisation?'

Vespiquen let loose a string of repeated syllables of her name, none of which made any sort of sense.

'Translation?' Takuya weakly asked a still vexed Koji. A volatile Koji could be a rather unpredictable Koji, but there was nothing else for it if they wanted to get out of the deathtrap of a forest. Of course, for all he knew it could be a nice little garden…He almost snorted. Not likely.

_'She said we'll get there in three days if we start walking and stop for the nights.'_

He winced. That was kind of far. It wasn't the worst, but they had only one backpack between the six of them. Then again, it had been worse in the Digital World.

Hold on a sec…

'That's our normal walking speeds,' he said out loud, staring at Gallade, then at Electabuzz and Abomansnow who had both been moving slower than normal as their norm. Vespiquen he noticed had not taken off but was drooped on the branch. Evidently, she had flown faster than her body could take. And Espeon…he may not be slow or tired at the present moment, but seeing as each step now was one tenth of a previous at the very least, he'd definitely wear out and slow down fast.

'All right everyone,' he said, holding up the Poké balls. 'In you all go.'

Vespiquen let loose another string. This time he got the gist.

'I won't get us lost,' he said, a little exasperated. 'Is there a path?'

The part flying, part bug nodded.

'No forks?'

Another nod.

'No camouflaged faux paths?'

Another nod.

'Then how can I possibly get us lost?' he asked, exasperated.

Gallade snorted, but didn't say anything.

'And don't worry. I'll let you guys all out for dinner. And breakfast. And lunch and that-however many meals there are.'

Abomansnow seemed easygoing enough, walking over and tapping the button, disappearing in a flash of red. Espeon jumped, before apparently remembering the explanation, but still backed up a few paces.

'See?'

Gallade didn't look all to convinced, but Vespiquen looked placated, and they and Electabuzz accepted their own balls. The purple psychic cat on the other hand didn't move.

'C'mon,' Takuya tried to coax, pressing the red beam to catch him at a distance, but Espeon, being able to sense air currents a predict an opponent's movement, jumped cleanly and quickly out of the way. 'Espeon!' he called out, trying again and causing the cat to hightail into the bushes. 'Okay…'

It took him a few minutes to work out which bush, and the Pokémon at that point simply escaped into the next one. Another half an hour of playing cat and mouse, in which ironically the cat was masquerading as the mouse, before Takuya flopped down in the centre of the clearing with the purple eyes watching him with caution and slight…fear.

'Hang on,' he said slowly, frowning a little as he remembered Ash's Pikachu. 'You've never been in a Poké ball. How can you be afraid of it?'

Espeon didn't say anything.

'Okay, well I haven't either, but it can't be that bad if Koji went back in willingly, so that probably has nothing to do with it. Umm…' He thought a little longer, before snapping over his Poké. 'Ok, I'm completely lost. Mind explaining?'

'Espeon, the Sun Pokemon,' the Pokédex responded obediently. 'Its fur is so sensitive, it can sense minute shifts in the air and predict the weather or an opponent's next move.'

'You can predict the weather?' Takuya asked with interest, before glaring at the red and black device. 'Hey, that wasn't what I asked.'

Espeon made a shrugging sort of motion.

'An Espeon is extremely loyal to any trainer it considers to be worthy. It is said to have developed precognitive powers to protect its trainer from harm,' the device continued.'

'Aargh, what button is it?' After a few random pressings like when he had tried to spirit evolve after the first incident. 'Aha.'

'Poke balls are constructed specifically for a Pokémon's capture, transport and training.,' his Pokédex explained. 'While being trained, a Pokémon usually stays inside its Poké ball. However, there are many exceptions. Some Pokémon hate being confined.'

There was a pause as Takuya remembered those very same words, the latter part anyway, being uttered by Dexter, Ash's Pokédex, in reference to his Pikachu. But Espeon was human, and if it was a purely psychological thing…'You're claustrophobic?'

Espeon blushed hotly, making him look a little like he had turned pink as opposed to the lavender silk.

'Hah, you are.' But he didn't laugh. Everybody had fears, and it wasn't a wholly irrational one, like his fear of uncontrollable power. There were more ridiculous ones like his fear of needles. He knew that Koichi also had a fear of blood, and JP was still afraid of thunderstorms even after wielding the spirits of thunder. He couldn't blame him though; Shinya still hid in his bed when the thunderstorm started. It was odd that the spirit was called thunder when the power he utilised was lightning. And he could swear Koji was scared of graveyards or something in them because not once had he ever set foot in one, even when he had thought for nine years his mother was buried in one.

'Okay, hop on.'

The purple eyes blinked as Takuya slung his backpack over his shoulder, than proffered an arm. 'Climb on,' he said. 'Or you can walk now and I'll carry you later.'

Espeon considered, before pattering gently ahead. Takuya shrugged, steadied his backpack, and followed.

Takuya had offered an arm once he noted the purple cat slowing down and the other had accepted this time, comfortably winding his tail around the other's neck and keeping a sharp lookout as the other walked along.

'I wonder when we should stop for dinner,' he said aloud, looking at the bare trees before turning to Espeon. 'Yell if you see some food, 'kay?'

Espeon purred in agreement and flicked his tail slightly, tickling the other's ear.

'Hey, that tickles,' the human complained. Unfortunately his ears were his weak spot, and apparently Koichi had just discovered them. Hopefully he wouldn't tell Koji. Oh, who was he kidding. They were twins for crying out loud. Of course Koji would found. And his ears' peace were over.

Luckily it wasn't Koji right now. Though it wasn't like he hadn't ever carried Koji over his shoulder. Of course, he was always unconscious when that had happened, except that one time he was nearly there from a fever. Koichi was fully awake and hopefully aware. It would make an awkward situation if it was entirely cat instinct.

'Espe',' Espeon said suddenly about half an hour later.

Takuya stopped walking immediately. Rather, he tried to, but his feet were somewhat on automatic so he stumbled a few paces first. 'What is it?' he asked curiously.

'Espe',' Espeon said again, leaping from his shoulder and diving into the trees.

'Oh I'm too tired to chase you,' the human moaned, but luckily he didn't need to as the psychic cat made it back with a fruit of some sort in his mouth which he deposited in Takuya's lap and raced off for more.

'Oh.' The human's lips parted slightly before he picked up and examined the fruit. It certainly looked edible, but he wasn't exactly a judged. Besides, it was time to retire for the night he figured.

He released the rest of the Pokémon from their Poké balls.

_'It's about time,_' Gallade grumbled immediately, and Takuya had to chuckle.

'How is in there?'

_'Liveable,_' the other responded flatly, which meant it was far more than that. _'But rather boring_.'

Espeon responded hotly.

'What did he say?' Takuya asked curiously.

'_He's still not setting a fur in there_,' Koji responded. There was a pause, then as an explanation, he added: '_He's claustrophobic.'_

'Funnily enough, I figured that out myself.'

Espeon hissed, but not threateningly.


	12. Snow and Thunderstorm

Author's Notes

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 12<span>

Snow and Thunderstorm

'Oh thank goodness,' Takuya sighed in relief, plopping on the first rock he found that wasn't in the forest. The trees finally stopped, and a grassy plain stretched out in front of them. The road winded over to the horizon, and just at that point was the first hint of human civilisation. 'Finally.'

He opened up the Poké balls and everyone popped up. Well, everybody except Espeon who had been hitching a ride on his backpack and had just jumped down with relief. Vespiquen had almost landed on his tail, but luckily she flapped her wings just in time to avoid a third painful crushed tail. Which he was visibly thankful for.

'_What are we waiting for?'_ Koji asked bluntly.

'Well,' Takuya scratched his head, before looking at Abomansnow. 'Tommy, can you do the explanation?'

Abomansnow launched into a stream of, to him, gibberish with got mixed and sorted reactions.

'Come on guys,' he exclaimed when he got two shaking heads. 'How am I going to explain why none of my Pokémon will fight? It's the norm around here. Besides, I promise I'll try my best to not let you guys get hurt. All I have to do is recall you.'

_'And lose_,' Gallade input.

'And lose,' Takuya said aloud.

There was a pause, then…

'_All right_.'

'What?' He was surprised that it was _Koji_ who said that.

_'I said all right_.' And he sounded perfectly serious too. _'All of us can trust you, but I swear if anyone gets hurt more than a bruise, I'll turn you into scrambled eggs.'_ There was a pause. '_Unless it's someone trying to take over the world.'_

'Does that count Pokémon poachers or kidnappers?'

Abomansnow added something, and Gallade shrugged, which in Koji-tongue was agreement.

He breathed a sigh of relief once he got the rest of the nods. 'Thank goodness, that problem's out of the way. Now let's get training.'

_'Training?'_

'Well, yes. You guys do need to know what you can do and all that.'

There was plenty of truth in that.

'Okay…' He thought for a moment, before realising he really had no idea where to start. He supposed he should check the attacks the others could use first.

Flipping out his Pokédex, he held it up so it was perfectly in line with Abomansnow, the one person/Pokémon who actually knew what it was doing. The scanning sequence was thankfully automatic and it didn't take long to list the half wood, half ice's attacks.

'Ice Punch, Blizzard, Bulldoze and Rest.' Three attacking moves, one healing. No defensive moves.

He next turned to Vespiquen who was the next nearest.

'Aeriel Ace, Attack Order, Double Team and Hyper Beam.'

Electabuzz…

'Thunderbolt, Thunder, Wild Charge, and Brick Break.'

Gallade…

'Brick Break, Psychic, Teleport, and Psycho Cut.'

And finally Espeon…

'Quick Attack, Confusion, Protect, and Shadow Ball.' He paused. 'Shadow Ball? Aren't you a pure psychic?' He shrugged. 'Must be the spirit of darkness.'

Well, there was definitely plenty to work with.

'Since we've got rocks, let's start with Brick Break.'

He folded his arms in the time it took for the two who could use the attack to get the message.

'Shatter the rock.' He pointed at the largest two, about the same size.

* * *

><p>After gauging their abilities, he sat down and thought about their versatilities. There wasn't too much you could practice with <span>Rest<span>, but everything else could be used in combinations, whether that be with nature or with other attacks. And with eight different Pokémon types, it allowed him to gauge the relative strengths and weaknesses of each move.

So he found Gallade, for all the fighter he was, was weak to flying and ghost type moves and resistant to rock and fighting. Electabuzz was weak to ground type moves and resistant to flying, steel and electric. Abomansnow had a rather large list. He was weak to fighting, flying, poison, rock, bug, steel and especially weak to fire, and resistant to ground, water, grass and electric. Very interesting, seeing as though he was part ice. Vespiquen was weak to flying, rock, fire, electric and ice, resistant against fighting, bug and grass and unaffected by ground type attacks, and Espeon was weak to bug, ghost and dark, and resistant to fighting and psychic.

Hehe, that was rather funny, seeing as those two were the main types of his brother's Pokémon form.

Hmm, that required some thinking in case he ever needed a tag-team. He wasn't sure how the gyms worked, seeing as he had only seen the first one and he couldn't remember that all too well either. Obviously the twins could work together without danger of crossfire on Gallade's part (barring Espeon's Shadow Ball seeing as that was a dark type move) and Espeon was certainly small and fast enough to escape anything on his own, with the added advantage of Quick Attack. But he didn't think their attacks combined very well.

Bulldoze was a ground type move, so both Gallade and Vespiquen could work with that. And Abomansnow himself of course. Vespiquen however was weak to ice, so it was probably not a good idea to pair those two up. Vespiquen and Gallade was a no dice as well seeing as Gallade was weak to flying type moves. Vespiquen was also weak to electric, so she couldn't work with Electabuzz, which again left Espeon by default, who were neither this nor that either way. And Espeon could cover more ground with Vespiquen. Then there was the help of his precognitive power. And he wondered if Aeriel Ace could combine with Espeon's Shadow Ball. That was one combination he could try out. He could also work out Attack Order with Aeriel Ace or Double Team; it could certainly score critical hits, even though Espeon was weak against bug type moves. Considering the swarm of bees, he should theoretically be able to easily escape them.

And of course the speed of flying as well. Those wings looked a little flimsy and Vespiquen had been flying quite low and in a single direction.

'Why don't you two play tag for now?' he asked Vespiquen and Espeon. 'Koichi, send stuff up at Zoe and force her to change direction and height.'

The two ran off a small distance (or flew off in Vespiquen's case) where they wouldn't be in anyone else's way.

'Okay…' He turned his attention to Electabuzz. Weak against ground moves, so no good with Abomansnow even though the two of them could create quite a thunderstorm he fathomed. He was resistant to flying, so he could work with Vespiquen. Problem was, Vespiquen couldn't work with him. Espeon was again neither this nor that, and this time, neither was Gallade. Problem was, he had never seen either twin work with JP before.

Actually, the only Pokémon Espeon was weak against in their arsenal was Tommy. So he could theoretically work with any of the others. And they could work with him as none were weak against psychic or dark type moves. Okay, leaving Espeon out then, Gallade would work well with Electabuzz seeing as he was so-so against electric attacks and resistant against fighting. In addition, if he could control the electricity, he'd have super-charged arm blades and a double punch. Abomansnow, he realised slowly, could work with Espeon after all, because despite being part bug, he didn't know any bug type moves. But he was a no go with the others.

Unless there was a way around those barriers. He hoped so, because he didn't want to have to dump all the team work on Espeon.

Hmm…Abomansnow's Bulldoze was one of the main problems.

'Tommy, can you use Bulldoze?'

Abomansnow did so, and Takuya immediately regretted the action as it made his teeth chatter violently…until he was suddenly floating in the air. He looked around at that, and noted everyone except Abomansnow and Vespiquen (who was already flying) were doing the same, but they weren't outlined by the telltale blue lining which could only mean Espeon was using Confusion.

The Bulldoze and Confusion stopped at exactly the same moment, and they all flopped to the ground ungracefully. The others crawled to their feet, except the psychic cat who lay flopped where he had landed for a moment more, before getting to his own feet.

Gallade asked something and Espeon responded before going back to what he had been doing before, flicking stray twigs and small stones up at Vespiquen with his tail.

Smart, Takuya thought, before something suddenly occurred to him. _He_ certainly hadn't felt Bulldoze when he was floating in the air.

He turned to Gallade who was looking rather grumpy, probably because he didn't have Espeon's precognition and therefore his brother was forced to take the entire brunt of the attack. The brunette really should have thought that problem through, seeing as that Bulldoze could have knocked his teeth out at the very least.

'Can you use Psychic on yourself?'

Gallade tried, and for a moment leaves, twigs and rocks floated around but the fighting Pokémon's feet stayed firmly on the ground.

'Okay, no.' There went that idea.

He flopped back onto the stone.

'Tell me there's a range of that,' he moaned out loud, before looking at the landscape. It was easy enough to tell with the landscape, and if he remembered correctly, the battling fields were large enough so that, so long as the Pokemon were somewhere near to the centre, the trainers wouldn't lose or gain anything. 'Good.' Otherwise the attack would have been unusable in an official battle.

Then something else occurred to him.

'Can you make it shorter?' he asked Abomansnow, before hurriedly adding: 'Not right now.'

Abomansnow shrugged. He didn't know.

'Okay.' He beckoned Electabuzz and Gallade towards where Vespiquen was resting from her dodging in the sky. 'Abomansnow, go further away so it doesn't hit us again,' he yelled.

Abomansnow did so, before releasing another Bulldoze. This time, it lasted for far shorter a time.

'So you can control the timing.' That was handy. No overkill the hopefully.

He then turned to Electabuzz and Gallade. 'Let's see how long you guys can stay off the ground for.'

Then he cracked up seeing them jump like rabbits. Gallade was lighter on his feet so could stay up longer, but if Electabuzz utilised his Thunder attack, it propelled him even higher and longer. Gallade's own attacks were too physical, unless you took Teleport. Either way, both could manage to stay up enough. Of course, the Thunder aspect was better seeing as it strengthened the Bulldoze.

'Okay, try a Blizzard Tommy.'

Abomansnow seemed happy to comply, though the temperature consequently dropped several degrees causing Espeon to shiver several feet away. Otherwise though the psychic cat hadn't reacted so the other had to wonder if it was reflexive or he was simply ignoring the cold.

He wasn't the only one who was cold as Vespiquen flapped her wings and launched herself into the air again, curling a little tighter around herself, and Gallade leapt nimbly into the trees and crouched on the higher branches where it was warmer and denser. Takuya himself wasn't feeling all that cold, and Electabuzz seemed to have enough fat to be warm still; Espeon was one skinny cat and Vespiquen's upper body wasn't much better. The skirt looked warm, but that was another story altogether. And of course Abomansnow was fine too; it was his Blizzard and he was part ice at that.

He also noted that the ground was starting to be covered in snow, so…

'Koichi, can you use a Quick Attack on the snow?'

Espeon tried and almost slipped. He only didn't because reflex prompted him to use Confusion on himself before he could jump to a non-snowy area.

Takuya was laughing, though he promptly stopped at Gallade's searing glare from the trees. 'That'll be trouble for any opponent,' he said. 'Even more so for ground types tying to shovel under the dirt.' He visualised a hole dug by Diglet being covered by snow, before shivering. It seemed almost cruel, but then they could dig an escape route…into more snow.

Abomansnow seemed to have stopped the Blizzard and was now having fun in the snow, rolling snowballs and throwing them at Vespiquen who squawked and dodged them. Seeing as it was part of the training, Takuya let Tommy have his fun, calling Espeon over instead. There was no point in training Gallade's sword arms; he'd slice off his own or whatever makeshaft weapon he could get his hands on. He could practice on the trees.

Espeon was suddenly nudging his foot.

'Huh?' He looked at his foot. Nope, nothing there, so he turned back to the Pokémon. 'What is it?'

Whatever Espeon said in reply, he didn't understand a word. But it sounded important. And looked; every hair on his back was standing straight.

'Translation Koji?' he asked loudly, so he was sure the psychic/fighting type could hear him.

'_He said there's a thunderstorm coming_,' Gallade replied, sounding a little odd. '_He seems almost…panicked.'_

Now Espeon had shot over to Electabuzz and was trying to push him towards the building in the distance.

Takuya, completely lost, pulled out his Pokédex. 'Mind explaining?'

'Electabuzz tend to draw electric currents,' the machine replied. 'During thunderstorms, they compete with each other to reach heights wherein they may absorb the storm's electrical power. Sometimes this can result in an electric overload.'

'Oh,' Takuya replied, before the sky suddenly darkened. 'Oh oh.' If he returned Electabuzz, chances are the hunger for electricity would take over and he would pop straight out of his Poké ball. 'That was fast.' He paused, looking down. 'That's weird you know.'

Espeon was licking his fur, trying to make it stay down. Very cat-like behaviour. Even weirder, he was still trying to push Electabuzz, but that was hopeless.


	13. Team Rocket

Author's Notes

This part will merge into the canon episode "Cream of the Croagunk Crop" and the following episode "A Crasher Course of Power". They're the two episodes that take place in Pastoria City.

Zoey is a canon Pokémon character. A little confusing with Zoe from Digimon Frontier as well. Good thing they're not both human at this stage, and we don't have the two Max's. Or Hikari (Dawn) in Pokémon and the Hikari (Kari) in Digimon 01/02.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 13<span>

Team Rocket

'Okay, thunderstorm,' Takuya muttered. His parents were always telling him not to be outside in a thunderstorm, and definitely not be around water…oh no, he realised suddenly. All the snow was melting. They'd all get electrocuted…and if Espeon was still trying to get Electabuzz away, now with Vespiquen and Abomansnow's help, then it was undoubtedly a bad one. 'We'll never make it indoors.'

'_I could __Teleport__,' _Gallade offered, before faltering. _'I think_.'

'All of us?' he questioned, before shaking his head. 'Never mind. Get JP and Koichi. The others can go back in the balls.'

'_And you Idiot_?'

He didn't get the chance to reply to that before lightning flashed in the sky…before the sky suddenly vanished…

…and they were falling onto a tiled floor into a heap.

Takuya felt for a moment he was being crushed before something heavy rolled over him. Abomansnow he noted once he crawled onto his feet and off an annoyed Gallade. Electabuzz was against a pillar with Espeon and Vespiquen on either side, and Espeon's tail was snaking on the ground…

…until a Chansey wheeling a cart accidently wheeled it over the said tail.

The cat screeched, jumping into the air before landing with a soft flop and chasing his sore tail again. Vespiquen shot into the air at the sudden sound and almost bonked her head on the pillar as a pink haired lady showed up, wondering at the situation while Chansey managed to catch Espeon in her grip.

'Espe',' Espeon struggled a bit, before giving up and Chansey snapped at him before carrying him away.

'Hey-' Takuya began to protest, before being interrupted by the pink haired woman. A Nurse Joy presumably. Which means they were in a Pokémon centre. 'Good choice,' he remarked to Gallade who was struggling to his own feet, before turning sheepishly back to the nurse. 'Sorry. We got caught in the thunderstorm and my friends panicked a little.'

'Seeing as you have an Electabuzz I don't doubt it,' Joy said kindly. 'We'll take a look at your Pokémon if you'd like.'

'That'll be great,' Takuya said in relief. 'Thanks.'

* * *

><p>Not even half an hour later, they were all enjoying apples on a free table…except Espeon who couldn't seem to maintain a grip on it. He watched in some amusement as the cat constantly chased after his apple until Gallade growled, picked up the apple, and sliced it with his arm blades.<p>

Espeon chirped a thankful reply and dug into the small bit-sized pieces happily.

* * *

><p>'At least we didn't have to camp outside again,' Takuya yawned to himself, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face as awareness returned to him. For a moment, he just enjoyed the warmth before he forced his eyes open to the new day. A pink blanket was covering about half his body; evidently it had slipped out during the night, and all his other friends were inside their respective Pokémon balls. It sure was weird saying or thinking that. Except Espeon of course…who wasn't anywhere in sight.<p>

'Koichi!' he yelled, accidently waking up some others who were taking refuge in the centre. 'Where are you?'

'Shut up kid,' a particularly grouchy man grumbled, turning over and rolling back asleep.

'Have you lost someone?' another, far younger and nicer, girl asked kindly, pulling her own pink blanket off.

'Yeah, my friend…' He paused. 'Uh, Pokémon. An Espeon.'

'You call her Koichi?'

'Actually…' He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before dumping his hat on it. 'It's a male Espeon.'

He was sure he'd seen this girl in the anime, but he was having trouble remembering her name.

'I'm sorry,' he said, bowing quickly. 'It's terribly rude of me. I'm Takuya.'

The red haired girl smiled and bowed back. 'I'm Zoey.'

He did a double-take at that. 'Zoe? As in Z-o-e?'

'No,' the girl laughed. 'Z-o-e-y.'

He sighed. 'That's a relief.'

'Why?'

'Well, you see…' He rubbed a mat at the back of his head again, before remembering. 'Hey, you're a coordinator.'

'That's right.' She stared at him.

'Oh, right.' He remembered he question. 'Vespiquen's uh…nickname is Zoe. That's Z-o-e though.'

It was the easier way to explain it.

'I see.' She nodded, before laughing. 'Interesting coincidence.' She paused for a moment before returning to the original topic. 'An Espeon did you say? Have you tried outside?'

'Outside?' Takuya repeated.

'Yes. Espeon is a Sun Pokémon. They have a habit of basking in sunlight.'

No wonder he was always in a sunny patch when he wasn't doing anything.

'Okay. Sunny patches at…' he looked at the time on his Pokédex. '10 am.' Unfortunately, there were a lot of sunny patches around that time. Of course, he didn't necessarily leave about that time. 'Maybe the roof…' Only he didn't know how to get up there.

'I'll show you,' Zoey offered. 'And I'm sure Glameow would love to meet Koichi as well.' She hesitated. 'You don't mind me calling him that.'

'Not at all.' Inwardly, Takuya was sighing in relief. It was much simpler to be honest. 'What other Pokémon do you have?'

'A Mismagius, Shellos, Lumineon, Kirlia and Leafeon,' the tomboy replied, leading the way. 'And you?'

'A Gallade, Electabuz and Abomnsnow. They're called Koji, JP and Tommy.'

They got up to the roof in a couple of minutes, using the ladder kept for emergencies, and sure enough, Espeon was curled there fast asleep.

'Koichi,' Takuya said, a little exasperated, reaching out to poke him awake. 'Hey, wake up.'

The purple cat yawned cutely before snuggling back into its curled up position.

'Its morning,' the brunette chided, before sighing. 'How in the world do mothers do it?' Funny, because Koichi normally didn't need to be awoken, but he was probably feeling pretty relaxed if Espeons did like bathing in the sun. 'C'mon, up and at 'em.'

Espeon woke up properly at that, standing on all fours before leaping gently to the ground. Takuya clambered down the ladder and over to Zoey who was trying to coax the psychic cat to her.

'It's okay,' Takuya told him, putting a hand in a pocket. 'She helped me look for you, seeing as you weren't there when I woke up.'

Espeon had the grace to look embarrassed, but came over and allowed himself to be pet. Takuya laughed aloud at that.

'What's funny?' Zoey asked.

'He looks pretty cute like that,' the brunette shrugged, and the red-haired girl seemed satisfied with that.

'Sure does.' She pulled out a Poké ball from her belt. 'All right Glameow. Curtains!'

Glameow emerged from her Poké ball, curling onto the ground before straightening up when seeing Espeon. The two cats looked remarkably different up close; grey with white tips and purple lids as opposed to almost purely lavender. The tail also curled into a spring with a white tuft at the end contrasting the two forked tale of Espeon, and there was no jewel on Glameow's forehead. The eyes were also blue instead of purple. But otherwise, they were similar in statue, rather than Espeon against the rest of the Pokémon. At least they were about the same size, unlike the other guys.

'They seem to be getting along fine,' Zoey commented once they got past the initial shyness and started chatting about…something or other. What in the world were they talking about anyway? Takuya had to wonder. Maybe their adventures? Or some cat conversation.

'Sure are.' His stomach grumbled on cue. 'Whoops,' he laughed without a blush. 'Breakfast time. Want to join us?'

'Sure thing,' Zoey grinned, following after him to the cafeteria. Together they claimed a rather large table, enough to fit eleven Pokémon and two ravenous humans. Actually, not all of them needed chairs. Espeon and Glameow were small enough to be able to sit on the table, along with Zoey's Kirlia, Shellos and Lefeon. Her Lumineon was in Nurse Joy's care, and Mismagious was floating on his seat, as was Vespiquen. Abomansnow, Electabuzz and Gallade were sitting normally.

Glameow nibbled on brown blocks Takuya recognised as Pokémon food. As were all of Zoey's Pokémon, but they seemed to be different sorts. His were enjoying normal food, though he noted Glameow offered Espeon a bite of his food. He watched Espeon accept it and nibble, before coughing and claiming the small water bowl instead.

Zoey laughed. 'I guess that's not the right taste for your Espeon,' she commented.

'I think they all prefer normal food,' Takuya confessed, watching Espeon trying to claim an apple instead. At least this time the brunette had the foresight to bring a knife so he carefully cut the apple for the other, who purred in thanks and nibbled on the bite sizes. 'See, he loves apples. He spent half an hour chasing one yesterday.'

* * *

><p>Breakfast didn't take all too long, and both temporary trainer and Coordinator were ready to leave.<p>

'I'm off to my next Contest,' Zoey explained. 'Are you planning on challenging the Gym Leader here?'

He had overhead the previous afternoon that they were in Pastoria City. 'Later,' he said. 'We're training for now.'

Espeon suddenly hissed on the dirt road.

'Huh? Espeon?'

Both cats suddenly dove out of the way of a net.

'What the heck? Where did that come from?'

'I think we missed,' a male voice said, sounding a little confused.

'Pika,' a Pokémon yelled hotly.

'Oh great,' said another male voice. 'Team Rocket.'

They finally spotted the Meowth balloon, and both of them groaned.

'Heard of them?'

'Unfortunately.'

Both Glameow and Espeon had landed on their feet and were now waiting.

And in front of them, a battle was starting to rage.

'Go Seviper,' Jessie yelled.

'Go Carnivine.' There was a pause. 'You think that's funny Carnivine. The enemy's that way.' Yep, definitely James.

Carnivine however had spotted the two cats and chose to focus on attacking them instead.

'Get ready Glameow,' Zoey cautioned.

'You two Espeon,' Takuya added, though he felt it was a little redundant.

The Team Rocket trio noted the distraction and Jessie turned. 'Great, more twerps.'

They were forced to turn back around when Ash sent in Pikachu and Dawn her Piplup.

'Four on two's not fair,' Takuya said aloud.

'I wouldn't worry about that,' Zoey sighed, pointing up at the balloon which was shooting more nets at the Pokémon. But not one had reached the ground before Espeon sent them straight back with a Confusion.

Takuya couldn't help but laugh. 'You really hate enclosed spaces, don't you?'

Team Rocket was inevitably sent 'blasting off again'. They always were, in almost any episode.


	14. Ash and Co

Author's Notes

A little short, but I wanted the battle in the next chapter. Which is the last of the Pokémon mini-saga, and from there we're on to a new world which will be a lot more fun to write up…hopefully.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 14<span>

Ash and co.

'Zoey,' Dawn called. 'What are you doing here?'

'Just passing through,' the red haired tomboy said. 'And you?'

'My next Gym Battle.' That was Ash. 'And who's your friend?'

'I'm Takuya,' Takuya said, assuming he was talking about him. It was all he could do not to start jumping or asking for an autograph. This was one of the most famous characters in one of the most famous anime in their time.

'Pika,' Pikachu said, coming over to the two cats.

'Glam.'

'Espe'.'

'Well, they seem to be getting along fine,' Brock commented. 'By the way, I'm Brock.'

'Dawn,' Dawn said, picking up Piplup. 'And this is Piplup.'

'Piplup,' Piplup said, waving with its small hands and receiving two tail wags from the four legged Pokémon.

'I'm Ash,' Ash said, pointing at himself. 'And this,' he pointed at Pikachu. 'Is Pikachu.'

Takuya grinned, picking up Espeon as Zoey returned Glameow. 'This is Koichi,' he said.

'Odd name for a Pokémon,' Dawn commented. 'Is it a male Espeon?'

Takuya nodded, before shrugging. 'They don't answer to anything else. My other Pokémon are a Vespiquen called Zoe, a Gallade called Koji, an Abomansnow called Tommy and an Electabuzz called JP.'

'Oh, how'd you come up with the names?'

This was going to be a long conversation…

Or not so long a battle as Ash suddenly exclaimed: 'Damn Team Rocket for distracting me.' He pumped his fists. 'Today we battle Crasher Wake.'

'The Gym Leader?' Takuya questioned, remembering Zoey had mentioned it.

'Yep.' He picked up a few Poké balls between his fingers. 'Come on out guys.'

He was greeted by a Buizel that looked eerily like a serious Koji, a peppy Chimchar, a Turtwig, a Gilgar (who the brunette had to admit looked a little scary) and a Staravia. Truth be told, he couldn't tell them all by sight except Staravia, Turtwig and Chimchar (who he could have sworn was Paul's) so he had to use his Pokédex for the other two.

Takuya put his hands behind his head as he watched the pump up Buizel tackle the sky. 'He's quite the fighter,' he remarked. 'Reminds me of Koji.' Then, as an afterthought, he added: 'Mind if I watch?'

'Go ahead,' Ash shrugged. 'Koji? The Gallade?'

'Yep.' He pulled a Poké ball from his belt. 'Right here.'

The Poké ball opened, revealing the swordsman.

_'What is it?_' Apparently, Gallade was a little grumpy due to the small time lapse.

'I didn't know you liked the Poké ball that much,' the brunette teased. 'And to think, Koichi won't even go near it.'

'Espe',' Espeon said in agreement, causing Ash to chuckle.

'Like Pikachu,' he commented, and the yellow electric mouse agreed, before looking over to Buizel who was now executing a high jump kick. 'Nice job Buizel.'

'Bui,' Buizel said, crossing his arms, back still towards the rest.

'Wow,' Dawn said. 'Buizel is really pumped up. He must really want to win after only managing a draw against Maylene's Lucario.'

'Pikachu,' Pikachu said.

'Right Pikachu,' said Ash, who looked just as eager for some training. 'Let's get some training in as well.'

The assortment of Pokémon cheered…except Espeon and Gallade of course. They really had nothing to do with the situation.

'Piplup and I will help,' Dawn offered, and the blue chick chirped an agreement.

'Us too,' Takuya said. 'We need to get some training in for own match against him anyway.'

'Oh?' Brock asked. 'You're competing in the Sinnoh league.'

'Planning to,' the brunette lied. 'But I haven't got any badges yet. To be honest, this is my first Gym Battle.'

'With five Pokémon, four of which are fully evolved?' Electabuzz was the only one that wasn't fully evolved for some reason.

Takuya shrugged. 'I hate losing or seeing my friends hurt so I wanted them to be super ready.' Part lie, part truth, but he decided it was a lot better than the explanation this time round. It would be a lot worse convincing them the five Pokémon were actually humans. Not to mention he hadn't finished the series so he didn't know what happened, and on top of that, Ash's mum used to be friends with the head of Team Rocket. Yep, better to stick to his story.

Brock shrugged at that. 'To each his own. I'll help you if you want. Let's leave them.'

He gave an internal sigh of relief. 'Sure, that'd be great.' Getting help from an ex-Gym Leader should be very useful.

'All right guys.' He released the others. 'Say hello.'

* * *

><p>The training with Brock actually turned out to be quite helpful, even though it had to be delayed because of Pikachu accidently shocking Buizel which then turned into a three way grudge when Turtwig tried to stop the water Pokémon's revenge. It paused for a moment when Ash took the <span>Sonic Boom<span> but didn't cease till Crasher Wake showed up with Floatzel and the Gym Battle for the Fen Badge commenced.

Takuya finally got the first glimpse of a real Gym Battle, and it certainly was intense. He was really hoping at that point he wasn't getting in over his head, but he figured that since none of Ash's Pokémon were really hurt (except Pikachu getting his back iced but Buizel fixed that right up), there was a good possibility that none of his would be hurt either. And they'd better not be, which meant he'd have to be prepared.

No wonder Koji found that amusing. It was a little unlike him.

'Shut up Koji,' he muttered, low enough so that the others didn't hear, except Espeon on his shoulder. 'I'm largely responsible for you guys now and I just don't want you guys getting hurt.'

There was a harrumph as the swordsman crossed his arms. '_We can take care of ourselves.'_

'I know that, but Pokémon battles, while they're fun and competitive and all, can-'

'_Then why did you say so in the first place?'_

'Well, there had to be something, and I've got no patience for breeding and I doubt I'd even make it past the appeals. Besides, so close to the Gym, I guess I was supposed to at least try. And it would be suspicious that I've carrying around five high level Pokémon and not doing anything with them.'

Gallade sighed, annoyed. '_Look, you want to battle?'_

'Well…yes.'

_'And you know, as Pokémon, we're depending on you to not get us hurt.'_

'Of course I know that!'

_'Then what's your problem?'_ There was a pause. '_Unless you're scared_?'

'Well, kind of,' he confessed. 'I mean, I already got you hurt once because of my plan.'

An eye-roll. '_And I thought you'd learnt from that.'_

'Yeah-I-well…' He stopped, getting rather flustered. 'I know all that. Geez, aren't I allowed to be just a little concerned about my friends? You guys _are_ more vulnerable like this.'

Espeon laughed, licking the other's ear gently.

'Aargh, don't do that. It feels really weird ya know!'

_'He's a cat now. What do you expect_?'

'And Tommy's sleeping a lot. Why isn't it affecting the rest of you so much?'

_'JP and the thunderstorm_.'

'And you're _really_ similar. But Zoe? I don't see any baby Combee…unless-'

'_No, they're not in her skirt_.'

He sighed in relief. 'Thank goodness. I don't think we'd be able to handle _that_ situation. But why only those three? Or rather two; JP's was a onetime sort of thing.'

Koji shrugged. '_Differences in brain sizes?'_ he offered. _'Abomansnow's is bigger than the average child, and Espeon's is smaller than a teenager.'_

'Espe',' Espeon snapped, before turning his head in a bit of a huff.

Takuya chuckled. 'Sibling argument.'

Espeon flicked him with his tail.

'Oww. That hurt you know.'

Espeon leapt down quickly and went off somewhere.

'_What did we do?'_ Koji asked, sounding extremely confused, before reconsidering. '_I suppose that was a little insulting. But he knows very well that wasn't what I meant. It's just that maybe some parts in the remoulding became more prominent? I don't know_.'

'Like the hibernation and the cat-like behaviour and precognition?'

'_And the maternal instincts and the grumpiness and the sharpness…though you're being worse in that aspect_.'

'You're certainly being helpful today,' Takuya commented.

_'Deal with it before I change my mind.'_

Koji would always be Koji. Actually, so would all the rest, he noted once he caught up with Espeon…after getting caught in the brief shower. Koichi himself liked the rain, but he did get sick easily in it so he resorted to watching through windows, and _no_ cat liked to get wet.

Though it would have been nice if Koichi had warned him, but he supposed the other was a little grumpy at the insinuation.

It probably wasn't the brain anyway. The second option made far more sense. Because a larger one should just mean more space in a transfer, and more gaps to fill. One would think two forms should be able to squish in nicely.

Who knew. Maybe it was just the prominent Pokémon traits coming out in the human turned Pokémons.

'And the Gym Battle?'

There was a shrug. '_It better not be any more painful than a sparring match.'_

'You know…it does sound rather like martial arts or Gladiators-' There was a pause as he remembered those were fights to the death. 'Okay, not Gladiators. But sparring matches, sure.'

Instinct and strategy. They'd both better be razor sharp.

His stomach grumbled on cue.

'Aw crap. I forgot about lunch!'

* * *

><p>Having dinner with Ash, Dawn, Brock and their assortment of Pokémon was an experience he would never forget. Every hand went into helping, and he tossed out his own friends once he realised that. Brock looked somewhat startled when Abomansnow started passing him ingredients but shrugged it off when Takuya mentioned off hand that Tommy was a good cook. He neglected to mention Espeon could as well, seeing as the purple cat was trying to stand on two legs and failing miserably. In the end, he grabbed a corner of the mat with his teeth and dragged it to its place on all fours. Pikachu and Piplup had two more corners.<p>

Chimchar was in charge of the fire, but it was a slightly tearful eye that was keeping an eye on it. Electabuzz had taken over supplying logs and the two were trading conversation every time the larger electric digimon passed. Whatever they were talking about, no human had any idea.

Takuya also got to taste Brock's cooking for the first time, and he could see why everyone loved it so much. Though the scene where Brock realised none of the other brunette's Pokémon would eat his specially made Pokémon food. Espeon wouldn't touch it after that morning, and that made Gallade reluctant as well. The other three had tried, but after a small nibble and returned decisively to their soup…even though Abomansnow's was running down his chin and fur by that point until Dawn cleaned it with her handkerchief.

'You think you're ready for your first Gym battle tomorrow?' Ash asked Takuya once everybody's bellies were full.

'I'd better be,' Takuya replied, beyond his brief bout of worrying. He supposed it was the whole Duskmon and Flamon incident that had wound him up. But Koji was right. 'Otherwise I'm going to have five very angry friends after me.' He paused and reconsidered. 'Well, the equivalent anyway.'

'This guy is too cute to do that,' the blue haired girl said, cuddling Espeon who's tail tip was going pink.

Takuya chuckled at the cute image. 'He wouldn't,' he admitted. 'But Gallade would times two. Or worse.'


	15. A Full Team Assault

Author's Notes

And that concludes our Pokémon journey. Or rather, their Pokémon journey.

It just occurred to me; good thing Zoe's not human otherwise Brock would probably be a pancake.

By the way, Pokémon exists on a floating timeline in the anime, but theoretically, Ash should be at least fourteen by the Sinnoh league, if not older, judging from all the obscure references. Takuya, Koji, Koichi and Zoe are all also fourteen, so of course it's a little weird Takuya hasn't ever participated in anything, but they know not everybody starts competing when they're 10. Remember AJ from the first season?

Crasher Wake used Gyarados, Quagsire and Floatzel against Ash. If he has six Pokémon, chances are he would use the other three against another challenger that witnessed the first battle. He should anyway, seeing as they were all defeated. At the very least give them a vacation.

Pokémon battles are hard to write up. I think duels are easier in that aspect.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 15<span>

A Full Team Assault

He woke up rather refreshed the next morning, which was a very good sign. The next good sign was that Brock was getting ready to prepare breakfast again.

'We'll be watching your match,' Dawn said, waving her pom-poms for emphasis. Piplup did the same. 'We thought you could use the extra support.'

'Gee, thanks guys.'

'No worries.' Ash watched Pikachu accept a pair of pom-poms as well. 'It's always great to meet new friends.' There was a pause. 'Assuming Crasher Wake uses the same Pokémon, what are you using?'

'Definitely Abomansnow,' Takuya mused. 'He's good with water types and he's itching for a battle. Electabuzz maybe…I'm a little concerned with the water field.'

'Hmm, that could be a problem,' Brock agreed. 'Though only if Electabuzz got wet.'

'Wild Charge has a quarter recoil as well. But he can still use Brick Break. I'll have to think about that.'

He paused for a moment. 'Vespiquen is definitely out because of the water field,' he realised. 'Espeon's fine; he can swim. 'Gallade should be okay too except against Gyarados, but I suppose it all depends on what Pokémon he uses. I doubt he'd use the same Pokémon when he knows I was watching.'

'We'll find out,' Brock said as they finished their breakfast.

'Now let's go before he decides to break your back too,' Ash added.

* * *

><p>'Each trainer may use three Pokémon and during battle, only the trainer is allowed to substitute,' the judge explained.<p>

'Got it,' Takuya yelled at him as Crasher wake in his wetsuit chuckled.

'Fighting spirit. That's what I like to hear,' he said in his deep voice, before tossing the first Poké ball into the air. 'Go Gastradon.'

Mentally, Takuya sweatdropped at the slug type Pokémon. Great, he thought. I've got one part grass type and he doesn't even know any grass type moves. Besides, who's idea was it to create a Pokémon with only one type weakness. On the down side, Electabuzz was definitely out because Gastradon was entirely unaffected by Electric type moves. It was a shame the field rendered Vespiquen useless, because her unaffectiveness on ground types would have really come in handy. Abomansnow was at least resistant to ground and water, so it as Abomansnow going in.

'Blue corner, chose your Pokemon,' the judge bellowed as Takuya finally selected his Pokémon.

'Come on out Abomansnow,' he yelled, releasing Tommy from his Poké ball.

Abomansnow pawed his ground on the small island, ready for battle.

'Ready,' the judge shouted. 'Begin.'

'Freeze the water around you with ice punch,' Takuya ordered quickly before the other could get a word in. Abomansnow quickly followed the order, spreading and stabilising the island he was standing on.

The ice snaked towards Gastradon before Crasher Wake ordered a counter-attack. Sort of.

'Step onto the ice.'

'Enough,' Takuya said at the same time once he did that. 'Bulldoze.'

He could still feel his teeth chatter…somewhat. But not too badly.

'Jump and then use Body Slam.'

For a slug, it certainly was nimble. Still, the Bulldoze had done some damage before he leapt up.

'Slide away Tommy,' he yelled and the other quickly obeyed…even if it did look a little comical. Even still, the Body Slam shook the island/ice platform. 'C'mon, please get up.'

Espeon from his shoulder added his encouragement.

Gastradon was flat too, so as it was, Abomansnow only made it half a second before. Only, Gastradon hadn't needed to fully get up before his next move was ordered.

'Gastradon,' Crasher Wake called. 'Use Water Pulse.'

Abomansnow wasn't exactly in a position to dodge, so he got hit with the full blast.

'Ice Punch,' Takuya ordered as a counter, forgetting about Water Pulse's possible confusion effect. Luckily, it didn't go into effect this time round. Unluckily, the Ice Punch didn't connect with the target anyway.

'Dodge,' Crasher Wake commanded. 'Now use Mud Shot.'

'Ice Punch,' he countered quickly. 'To the ground. And keep at 'em.'

He remembered this from one of the Hoenn episodes. Someone had used Ice Punch to reflect the Psybeam, and he knew Tommy had seen that episode too. Hopefully, the youngster had caught on.

And he had, because soon enough the Mud Shot was on a return trip.

'To the water.'

'Blizzard Tommy,' Takuya ordered in retaliation, though Gastradon was already into the water by then.

'Dig.'

'Uh oh,' he muttered, before quickly changing tactics. 'Bulldoze.'

'Was that a smart move?' Dawn asked from the sidelines.

'Actually, yes,' Brock replied after a little thought. 'Gastradon may be part ground, but he's affected normally by ground type attacks. And since he's in the middle of a Dig, it doubles the effectiveness, especially since the shockwave spreads to the water. And due to the cold air from Blizzard, all the debris is sinking into the water.'

'Mud Shot!'

That sent Abomansnow flying directly upwards, and Takuya quickly yelled out a counter that would hopefully work.

'Blizzard, then Ice Punch!'

As crazy as it sounded, it actually worked. The Blizzard helped him fall faster and froze Gastradon slightly _and_ made it difficult to see and aim, so the rest of the Mud Shots missed. The Ice Punch landed square on his face, receiving Abomansnow's first KO.

'Gastradon is unable to battle,' the judge declared. 'Abomansnow is the winner.'

Abomansnow bellowed in victory before taking the opportunity to pant as Takuya returned the Pokémon and send out the next one. An Empoleon. He remembered that one. And Electabuzz was perfect for it.

'Come on out Electabuzz.'

'Espe'?' Espeon asked.

'Maybe in the third match,' Takuya sighed, thankful for the first victory. 'But you're useless in this one. And Gallade's sort of half and half.'

That Pokémon certainly had a lot of resistances. And they included psychic and dark type attacks. Luckily, it was weak to fighting and electric. It was also weak to ground, so Abomansnow could get back in there as a backup…after a rest.

'And, begin.'

Both Empoleon and Electabuzz were on the islands, so there was no sense using Thunder now. So…'Thunderbolt!'

'Double Team.'

'Wha-?' Drat, how could they tell the real one. 'Just shoot them all down.'

A series of thunderbolts did that, but that diminished their power so the real one didn't get affected too much at all.

'Flash Cannon!'

'Thunderbolt!'

The sky literally cackled with electricity as the two Pokémon got closer to each other. But still not close enough for physical attacks, and both Crasher Wake and Empoleon were smart enough not to touch the water.

The little jousting match continued, each drawing slightly closer as they tried to narrow the distance in both physical meeting and power, until…

'Use Brick Break!' both trainers shouted at the same time.

Takuya was sincerely hoping JP would dodge without him telling because there was no way he would be able to finish the command.

Yep, JP ducked, slamming his palm into the other (slightly bigger) stomach.

'Watch out,' he yelled, seeing the other palm connect with his back. 'Thunder now!'

He winced at the great surge of electricity.

He noted that the Pokémon were stronger than they should be, or so he thought. This was a Gym battle for crying out loud. Abomansnow was a little tired, but that was it. Thankfully. Maybe their fighting in the Digital World had strengthened and experienced them more than they realised.

It still wasn't enough to take down Empoleon, though the other was badly wounded. Electabuzz looked a little dizzy after the massive discharge as well. He figured it was time to swap him out. But for whom.

Gallade would be a good choice, but he couldn't help but think they'd wind up in the situation. What he really needed was to get Empoleon into the water so a good Thunder would finish him off.

'You up for it buddy?' He asked Espeon, who chirped in reply. 'All right then.' He picked up a Poké ball from his belt. 'Electabuzz, return.' He quickly swapped the slightly heavier one for the only empty one in the collection. 'Go Espeon.' He threw the ball and it hit the water before he remembered Espeon was outside the ball. 'Oh, whoops. Espeon, do you mind getting that?'

The big purple eyes stared at him unblinkingly.

'I'm not asking you to get into that ball. Or even go swimming or anything. Just use Confusion.'

The psychic cat obeyed and the ball floated up into Takuya's grip.

'Now get in there.'

The cat sprung, landing on one island after another till it got reasonably close to Empoleon.

'Begin.'

'Use Quick Attack,' he ordered immediately and Espeon streaked towards the other like a blur.

'Why'd he swap out?' Ash wondered aloud.

'We'll see,' Brock replied. 'I have a hunch though that he's giving Electabuzz a rest before a huge finale.'

'But why Espeon? Aren't his attacks useless?'

'Actually, I have no idea at all. It depends on the attacks. And Espeon's speed is useful in any case.'

Empeleon took a step backwards from the force but otherwise it might have been a waffle ball that hit him.

'Use Metal Claw!' Crusher Wake shouted.

'Quick Attack to dodge,' Takuya immediately shouted out as a counter and Espeon put on an extra burst of speed and shot off the penguin and onto the island. 'Now use Shadow Ball.'

'Metal Claw!' The large fins cut through the ball of energy with only a little hurt. Which was surprising because he was resistant to dark attacks. But then again, he'd never faced the likes of _this_ Espeon.

'Flash Cannon!'

'Protect.' It achieved a dual purpose defence and a sideshow seat.

'Interesting…' Crasher Wake mused. The matchup really looked a little amusing. Tiny Espeon against the giant Empoleon. He thought the poor Pokemon's eyes were going to fall out when he had first called out Empoleon.

He didn't want the charade to go on for too long. Neither of them wanted to, seeing as Empoleon was extremely worn and Espeon would probably be needed in the third and final match and it wouldn't go down too well if he got too tired at this stage.

'Stay for now Koichi.'

Espeon did so.

'Into the water and use Aqua Jet.'

Being a water Pokemon, the water was soothing for his wounds. In addition, the water from the pool increased the strength and size of that Aqua Jet. As fast as Espeon was, there weren't too many places for him to run.

Of course, he could, but there had to be a better option. Then it clicked.

Of course.

'Koichi, Confusion.'

'He's going to lift Empeleon?' Dawn asked in awe. 'But he's so _big_.'

Nope.

The entire pool's contents, or rather, the area where Empoleon was, rose out of the pool, stopping the Aqua Jet in process. The water hovered before Espeon shaped it into a lion's afterimage…much like his Dark Master.

'Okay, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind…' He shrugged. Oh well. Worked anyway, and it did accomplish the main task. Get Empoleon surrounded with water for a quick shock.

'Brick Break!' Crasher Wake shouted as the water launched at him. The lion split in two, but water was on the island now. A perfect electrical wire.

'Aqua Jet!'

He was going to take advantage of the water.

'Dodge then return Espeon!' Takuya shouted, and Espeon obeyed. Espeon was a largely defensive Pokémon. The only one, he noted. It certainly was…interesting.

'Get back in there and use Thunder Electabuzz!' He tossed the Poké ball.

'Metal Claw on the ground!' Crasher Wake tried to counter, but the flippers never reached the island when the thunder hit.

'Empoleon is unable to continue. Electabuzz wins!'

'Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to wait,' Ash commented as Crasher Wake recalled his second Pokémon.

'You? Wait?' Dawn teased.

'Pikapi,' Pikachu agreed.

Crasher Wake threw in his third Pokemon, and Takuya immediately decided there might be a little problem. It was a Blastoise. With a huge and powerful looking shell.

'Oh oh.'

'Begin!'

'Thunderbolt!' he tried, and Electabuzz sent a powerful zap of energy at the tortoise Pokemon.

'Hydro Pump,' Crasher Wake calmly counted, and lo and behold. The Hydro Pump was powerful enough to send the Thunderbolt right back.

Of course, Electabuzz just zapped up his own electricity. But he also got soaked by the water so now there was a bit of a static issue. Especially because of the rest of the water, so Electabuzz was currently a tad frozen.

Wild Charge didn't accomplish much either. Blastoise looked about the same as Electabuzz, which was honestly bad news with the recoil effect, seeing as Electabuzz was now even more frozen.

Quite a problem.

'Hyper Beam.'

'Crap. JP, get out of there.'

Electabuzz took the only escape route. Straight into the water. In all honesty, it was surprising he was able to move at all, but he was the Legendary Warrior of Thunder so he did have a hidden source of reserves.

'Return Electabuzz.'

JP definitely needed the rest. To get dry if nothing else.

Now who to use. Abomansnow or Espeon? Maybe Abomansnow might be better for the time being…

He picked the ball off his belt. 'Come back out Abomansnow!'

Abomansnow showed off his fists, ready to fight again. He certainly looked recovered. Takuya had to wonder if he had used Rest upon himself.

'A battle against two powerhouses,' Brock said. 'This should be interesting.'

'Begin!' The judge cried, raising a hand.

Blastoise was still frozen after the slight miscalculation. Whatever attack came next, he wouldn't be able to block, so he had to make it count.

'Use Ice Punch. On the cannons!'

'Hydro Pump,' the other countered after the first punch. The burst of water froze slightly but the sheer force saved the cannon. The other was stuck for the time being so the water died out for time being; he couldn't force too much or the cannons might accidently blow. Takuya was certainly learning strategy from various things. Though there were times he would have to trust his instincts too.

'Keep up those Ice Punches.'

'Rapid spin.'

'Stop and dodge.'

The attacks continued. Punches against punches. Spinning against dodging. Water against ice. Fire against earth. Neither budged. Neither refused to yield. Neither wanted to break the stalemate.

Blastoise was strong. But Tommy was the Warrior of Ice in half of his domain. Because ice came from water, and from water, ice.

But apparently fighting for your life against evil or controlled digimon was just a tad higher than any level of experience, even from a starter Pokémon. Abomansnow refreshed himself in the moment that was cost by taking the Hyper Beam. A well timed Rest that restored him to full power.

'Go get 'em.'

Blastoise fell to a knee.

'All right Tommy!' Takuya shouted, and Espeon shouted his own support.

Tommy was definitely going to see this fight to the end.

'Bulldoze!'

A slight pause in the dust, then…

'Blastoise is unable to battle. Abomansnow is the winner!.'

* * *

><p>'Neat battle,' Ash said once they were all walking back to the Pokémon centre. 'What are you planning on doing now?'<p>

Takuya shrugged. 'First, I'd better hope Koji doesn't want to kill me again.'

'Espe',' Espeon disagreed.

'True.' He grinned sheepishly. 'He said it was okay himself. But I was worried about you guys.'

'Espeon,' Espeon said, now sounding annoyed. And Takuya recognised the tone. The only hadn't used it very much.

'I know you're not made of glass.' There was a pause. 'I saw an ice cream shop thereaways. Let's get some.'

The cat perked up.

Takuya waved goodbye to the others who were heading off to Dawn's next context.

'See ya,' he yelled, waving till they disappeared from sight.

When they did, he lowered his hand, but it didn't make it all the way down before his wrist flashed blue. A quick check told him Espeon's tail was flashing the same colour.

'Get out!' he yelled in a slight panic, not knowing what would happen if the others were stuck in their Poké balls when they changed walls. Luckily, they all heard him and burst out before the light swallowed them…

…and they found their consciousness slipping quickly away again.

It was certainly lucky there were no witnesses. Perhaps. Or perhaps it didn't matter.


	16. Black Cat

Author's Notes

Notes are at the end. Don't read until after you read the chapter because it contains spoilers.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 16<span>

Black Cat

Zoe and Koji were the first awake, barely half a second before or after each other. So close it was in fact that it was hard to tell which of the two opened their eyes first, nor did it really matter. What mattered was what they saw when their eyes did snap open, almost simultaneously upon registering the shouts and argument.

There were two girls, one nearly a woman and the other closer to their own age and missing all four limbs, bleeding her life away in the hands of a man in a pressed suit but not quite old enough to be her father. He, pressing the girl close, was glaring at the other who was scowling past him to the injured girl in her arms, before both turned their heads to them…and past.

The man's eyes widened in shock but the girl's narrowed.

'Get out of there,' he shouted, before raising his voice further. 'Hold your fire!'

Fire?

They both turned their heads, propping themselves up on their elbows to see what looked like SAT team, ready to fire. Most of the guns were pointed at the fuchsia-haired woman, but a few were pointed at the six of them.

Koji kept one eye on them, looking out of the corner of his eyes at the rest of their friends. They weren't overly tangled; in fact, Takuya's jacket was half on Kouichi's face but otherwise they were all separate. Except Tommy, and he panicked slightly when he couldn't spot the other anywhere. He only relaxed a minute amount when he spotted a cat curled up by his brother's feet, with a small device, much like it had been on Espeon, except stating '018.'

'Guys,' Zoe whispered softly as Koji kicked his feet back, hoping to reach either Takuya or JP. He definitely hit one of them as there was a small hiss of pain and a loud 'what?' before it quickly quietened.

That was enough to rouse the other three though, and they all froze seeing the barrels pointed at them.

The woman snarled, baring her teeth before springing away from them, leaping onto what looked like a tomb ornament before jumping to the next and vanishing from sight.

'After them!' the man in the pressed suit bellowed, and most of the SAT responded. A few still remained, guns pointed at the five on the ground.

'What do we do about them?' one asked as JP instinctively scrambled back and both Kouichi and Takuya sat up completely. The jacket fell off his face but hung, stuck to something. Confused, Kouichi reached up, wondering if a button had gotten tangled in his hair, but his fingers felt the outline of something sharper.

The fingers lifted away as the jacket drifted to the ground in a haphazard pile of cloth. There were simultaneous gasps as eyes turned to him, or more specifically, the two horns protruding from his head. His own eyes were somewhat wide with shock but the fingers stopped their exploration as the guns shifted their perimeter and pointed directly at him.

'Um…sir?' One asked, and the pressed-suit man looked over at them. 'What do we do with this one?'

He looked closely at the boy who resisted the urge to back away, thinking rightly that might be a bad idea.

'It's very rare to have a male Diclonius,' the man commented, frowning as he set his unconscious charge down and stood. 'But not unheard of.'

He hesitated a moment, but seeing the other wasn't about to do anything, grabbed his wrist and threw him away from the others.

'Koichi!' Koji shouted, about to go after his brother but being stopped by a more cautious as the boy stumbled into the altar before straightening against it as the guns repositioned themselves. 'Let him go! He hasn't done anything!'

'Haven't you?' the man asked quietly, staring into the other's eyes, an in-between from their usual blue and Espeon's purple. 'So you have never killed anyone?'

Koichi cringed at that, and the other shook his head. The tinge of sadness was almost invisible as he turned away. So much so, that only the black cat that had picked himself up managed to catch the small glimmer of softness in the hardening heart.

He had the blood of numerous children on his hands. He had the blood of his own _wife_. What was one more, even if he was older than the rest and having touched his teenage years. What was one more, to save other people.

Diclonii were born to destroy humans. And this one was not like Nana. Unlike those wide, innocent eyes desperate to please, who had never touched another human after latching onto him and calling him 'Papa', these ones possessed a perpetual shadow of one who had killed without mercy.

He of course didn't know about Arbomon. Or Duskmon. Or the Digital World. But the shadow lurked in the eyes of every killer, and he knew it well, because that shadow lurked in his own as well. For the babies he had killed lest they turn upon their own parents. For every Diclonii's first victims were their own family.

'Let go of my brother!'

Perhaps there was an exception, but as far as he knew Director Kakuzawa had enough subjects to work with. More than enough, as a failsafe for issues like Lucy. It was only her, the Queen Bee, that they could not afford to lose. It was within her that the secret existed, the secret that bred the Diclonii and spread their virus and the powers that came with it.

Kurama turned away. 'This is for your own good,' he said quietly, but firmly. 'The first people a Diclonii kill are their families and friends.' He turned back to the horned human who had shrunk back under the hard gaze. 'Those horns mark you as a threat to the human race.'

A hand came up to lightly touch the horns. He couldn't argue though. How would he know? Maybe the other was right, but that didn't mean he was a part of that. And he could smell that blood in the air; all that remained from the fight between two girls with protrusions similar to the ones he had suddenly sprouted.

Koji had no such qualms, pushing past JP who let his own grip slack and catching the arm. The suit's blazer lay on the ground, wrapping Nana in its warm embrace and covering the blood, so it was the white shirt the other grabbed. 'I don't care what you say,' he hissed. 'You have no right to decide that for someone who's _never_ done anything to deserve it.'

Kurama raised his other hand. His free one. 'Kill him,' he ordered firmly, before using the same hand to pry the other off. It was unnecessary though because as soon as they saw the guns level, they all moved. Tommy, the black cat, sprung and landed on Koichi's chest, claws digging into the other's shirt (the navy blue jacket was still in his backpack and that was still against the grave). Koji threw himself in front of his brother and the others ran towards them, arms stretched out as if they could pull them both away before the bullets struck.

Koichi…Koichi threw himself at his brother, falling on top of him, wishing desperately he could reach the others and throw them out of harm's way. He forgot even his own danger at the thought of them, innocent and with no fault of their own, being caught in the crossfire.

They weren't like him. They hadn't slaughtered a teammate because they felt his usefulness had ended. They hadn't turned against the mon who had saved their life and contributed to their destruction. They hadn't tried to destroy the very world they should have been saving. And they hadn't died in their final failure, even when they told him again and again it had been the thing that had made them succeed.

He didn't know how he could reach that far, but he could feel his fingers stretching, closing around the warm bodies. Never for me, he thought, his eyes closing as he pushed with all his might, not even realising that his body lay feet away from where the invisible arms were following the action. Not realising it was his mind and not his body screaming the command.

He didn't deserve that. Not from them. Not when they had tried valiantly to save the very lives he had slaughtered without thought, without cause. He had never told them, the majority of that blood that stained his hands. The innocent data he had swiped simply to plunge the world into the empty shell he came from and was. He saw their meaningless struggles, caught in a web that would inevitably drag them in to their doom. It had seemed so pointless, but that was the one thing his heart had cried for…until he had seen Koji and that endless pursuit between darkness and light had truly begun.

And never ended. It was the ultimate Red Queen scenario. They ran so fast, and yet throughout it all, nothing had changed. Nothing.

And instinct. Instinct caused his arms to cover his face, and whatever he could manage. A small reasonable part of his mind told him it was useless, that his arms couldn't possibly block the bullets from the semi-automatic rifles. But another part of him, one that frightened him, the dark, merciless part that had taken down IceDevimon and thrown himself at Cherubimon in anger and anguish, told him to lash out, to stop those little casing and take down the source for _trying_ to hurt, trying to kill…for what they had already done, and intended to do…

Red blurred his vision. His eyes squeezed shut on instinct as a combination of nausea and paralysis consumed his senses. He felt his body give out, collapse backward till strong hands seized him and lay him gently down. The same hands that had pulled him up from death.

And he could feel those same tears falling onto his face.

The limp hand hit the ground.

* * *

><p>They had all felt something, or someone, push them, though not being near enough to anyone who looked like they had done so, they neither knew nor understood at the time who had been responsible.<p>

Koji had stood up, having fallen a safe distance from the shots, in time to see his brother's frame fall back as the clicking shots changed sound. Empty magazines. They must have been out of rounds.

He caught him before he fell completely, letting the side of the head half slick with blood rest against his chest as he supported the unconscious form with a knee and both arms. Blood ran down one side of his head, but when the younger twin gently fingered the bloodied area, he found just a gaping hole where one of the horns, which looked ironically like cats' ears, had been protruding his skull.

Someone grasped his upper arm tightly and easily pulled him away, even as he tried to resist. A streak of black shot past the struggling pair and planted itself upon the slowly rising and sinking chest again, this time with a determination that not even the tsunamis of the world could shift.

They say it is bad luck for a black cat to cross one's path, but not so many believed it nowadays. It still felt like an ill omen though, watching the cat planted on the chest of the still form that they had been ordered to gun down; an innocent looking child that may or may not be one of those accursed like the Lucy they had come after or those other silpelits locked away off shore that most of them knew nothing about save those ordered at times to chase after loose ends.

Like that one, lying limp where his brother had been forced to drop him. He was held between two now, both having cast their weapons down, broken to both their awe and fright. Others had stopped the rest of the teenagers as well; they were executioners to be sure, but none of _them_ liked to be the one to witness the death of an innocent. Though not all shared those thoughts.

Few weapons were working now, once the magazines were reloaded. Few only were needed though, because there, for a brief respite, would be no fight. With one horn blasted off, the spirit rested in a comatose state. With both, as far as they knew through years of research and experimentation, one would never return from their catatonic state.

One readied their gun, but no friend was about to watch that. Koji could by no means reach at all, but that didn't stop Takuya, grabbing the arm in the last minute and jerking the bullet off aim. For a heart-wrenching moment the effort seemed futile and blood splattered onto the altar, but then they noticed the white horn hit the stone and bounce off.

'Leave it,' Kurama said once another readied their own weapon. 'There is no threat now.'

They dropped their arms, and the four still human and standing ran to the other two. Tommy nuzzled the other's pale cheek before noting the crimson blood trailing from the side of his mouth and gently licking it away. More blood, darker and pooling, trailed down his face, marking his chalky pale face…but they had still seen it paler. That was the one comfort for them as, ignoring the ring around them, ignoring for that moment the injustice of it all, they gently shook the other.

'Come on Koichi,' Koji whispered gently, gripping the limp hand. 'You promised remember? You promised I wouldn't watch you die again.'

It had been a fool's promise; they both knew that. For who could govern over life and death? But for some reason they felt compelled to do so and hold that close; a comfort they could retreat to after the day that had changed the tides of fate forever. And now he was calling the other onto that very same promise, hoping beyond a rational hope that it might save him from whatever end the rivers of destiny were taking him.

'Wake up!'

'It's useless.' That was Kurama, quietly muttering the statement, turning back to the daughter he fostered. 'He'll never wake, nor move again.'

Takuya turned to glare at him, with a hatred that paralleled the glare he had given Lucemon, wherein the fire had consumed his soul. He could feel that same rage in his heart, but it was duller then for all their lack of understanding and knowledge. 'Shut up,' he whispered sharply. 'You-'

He was cut off from a soft, almost silent, whisper. 'Koji…'

In the sudden silence that had fallen, they had all heard.

'He should…' Kurama began, before shaking his head as the rest of the SAT returned. 'Where is Lucy?'

'She escaped,' one said, bowing his head.

His eyes narrowed, scanning over the men. I wonder why her vectors didn't come out, he wondered, before turning back to the scattered weapons and the remains of two battlefields. I wonder why he didn't attack any further than those weapons.

But if he could block standard bullets, then he was a threat. And if he still possessed enough awareness to respond to the stimuli of the outside world, then perhaps he was worth studying after all. If he left the issue alone either way, either letting him escape or finishing him off, and Kakuzawa heard of this, he would be angry at the very least. At the worst, he would make good of the threat that bound him in workmanship.

'Take him in Lucy's vessel,' the scientist ordered, gesturing at the still form, before he turned to the children. 'Don't try to stop us, and forget this ever happened. It's worth more than your lives and his to mention this to anyone else.'

He nodded to a black-coated man at the front, who with another pulled the one in likeness away from him. He fought, but between two strong adults trained day and night for years in combat he stood no chance to break the hold. Nor did anyone else.

But no-one approaching the cat, narrowing its green eyes and hissing dangerously.

'Um…the cat?' someone asked.

Kurama sighed. 'Leave the cat,' he said. 'No Diclonii harms any species outside the human race. The cat is safe.'

'Hold it!' Zoe screamed, her voice trembling with repressed sobs. 'Explain! Why? Why?'

The black haired male closed his eyes. 'If I tell you,' he said slowly. 'I must order your execution. All I can say is that all who carry that virus have homicidal tendencies that completely overrun their personalities. They are an existential threat to humanity so a special branch was created to control this epidemic.'

He turned away.

'You're all better off forgetting this ever happened.'

* * *

><p><span>Post-Author's Notes<span>

The Diclonius species is said to represent a beehive, with Lucy acting as the queen. In the manga, there are only females, however the anime does represent some males and I don't see any reason why males can't be Diclonii. Beehives consist of the Queen ie. Lucy, then females and males (drones). The unfertilized eggs result in males while the fertilized ones result in females. Relating that to the Elfen Lied universe, we already know Lucy is the exception to the rule. Diclonii like Nana and Mariko are born because of the vector virus being transmitted, so they are female and sterile. But as a population, that puts too much pressure on the queen to be in charge of the reproduction. It's not a viable population and since we know Lucy wasn't born that way, how was she born? How did the males in the anime get their horns? And who said Lucy had to be the first? She can't really have been the first if Kakuzawa was aware of their existence far before they managed to track down Lucy.

And remember, the adaptations aren't necessarily beneficial. After all, it wasn't necessary to turn the rest of the gang into Pokémon. It's not entirely random chance either, but that will be explained further at a later stage.

Now, Kurama. He's got a soft spot despite all the killing he's done. It's the main reason why he takes responsibility for the murders he's told to commit. On top of that, he's got the deaths of his wife (who died from some sort of cancer I think after begging him not to kill their Diclonius daughter) and the imprisonment of his daughter Mariko which serves as a bargaining chip for Kakuzawa.

As for turning Tommy into a cat, that actually applies to another world but it plays a role in this one too. The black was somewhat important too, but I thought it was funny to relate it to the superstition. Also, because he's an animal, Koichi's not left all alone. Poor Koichi…


	17. Diclonius

Author's Notes

Now I can say this. The last chapter began somewhere in episode 4 of the Elfen Lied series (the anime, not the manga) and this chapter continues on from there…somewhat. Throwing in Frontier Characters is going to mess things up of course.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 17<span>

Diclonius

'K-Koichi? No! Give him back! Give him back!'

JP closed his eyes and turned away while Zoe buried her face into her hands.

'I can't believe how powerless we were,' she sobbed, letting the tears loose from her cage and Takuya draped an arm over her and drew her close. 'We just had to s-stand there and w-watch-'

'Guys,' Takuya said slowly, watching the anger and rage ebbing away as the source vanished. 'If we left here, all this would go away too…right?'

He looked at his wrist, where the number stubbornly remained. A baited breath. No flash of blue light. No merciful release.

'Damn it,' he cried, striking the device. 'Damn it…' he repeated, then repeated again. His heart just felt hollow at that point.

JP clenched a fist. 'If I was still Electabuzz, I'd zap them all with a couple of thousand volts.'

'Oh, don't say that,' the blonde sobbed. 'It'd kill them.'

They all froze at that, except Koji who was still where he had fallen when pulled away from his brother. In neither of the other two worlds had death been much of a possibility. The worst they'd had to contend against had been crazy duellists that didn't really concern them unless they got caught in the crossfire and Pokémon battles you could withdraw from if things got too crazy.

Not like this. It looked like there would be no easy way out. Or any at all. No hints. Not even a name…except the pink haired woman they called 'Lucy'. The one who had escaped.

The fist suddenly unclenched as a low moan reached his ears.

'Shush,' he hissed suddenly, turning towards the bushes.

The others looked at him as he pointed there.

'I hear someone.'

They all stiffened, but when nothing happened, the eldest went over to the rail, peeking through the lush foliage. 'Hey, there's someone here!'

The others didn't move immediately.

'We can't just stay here-have to do…something.' Takuya buried his face into his arms. 'Oh, what can we do? We're walking blind.'

Zoe dried her eyes. 'At least Tommy's there,' he pointed out. 'And it sounds like he'll be safe. We'll find them somehow.

'Zoe's right,' Takuya sighed, opening his eyes and lifting his face up again. 'There must be someone who knows something somewhere.'

'Like the girl in the bushes?'

Takuya stood up. 'We should help her either way,' he said. He and JP exchanged glances, before looking at Zoe who made a "go on" motion with her hands, going over to Koji herself.

'Hey,' she said softly. 'We'll find them both. Don't you worry.'

He closed his own eyes before nodding as she helped him up. One hand clutched a bloody horn as he looked over the graveyard. It seemed so familiar, but he knew in his heart that even if he looked amongst the shattered or solid tombs, he wouldn't find the one with his grandmother's name on it. They weren't home, and they wouldn't be for a while.

But they had promised each other, that nothing was going to separate them.

He clenched a fist. If only he could have held on tighter. If only he had something, a weapon, an attack, anything to protect his brother with-

'_Nothing_ is going to stop me.' He clutched the horn tight, feeling the sharp edge cut into his palm and tears hovering on his lashes, stinging his eyes. 'I won't fail him again.

'Stop us you mean.'

Angrily, he brushed the tears away.

* * *

><p>'She had collapsed and was injured,' a nurse explained, leading the nineteen year old down the hall. 'A group of youngsters found her. Passing by.'<p>

'This girl…' The nineteen year old asked, thinking of Nyu and Yuka, neither one of which had returned back to the Maple Inn. 'Was he hair long or..?'

The nurse ceased walking, turning to smile at the black haired youth that had just blossomed into adulthood.

'It's her.' She gestured at the chestnut haired girl in the dirty caramel sweater, talking to a group of four…somewhat. All of them were sprouting expressions of varying degrees of confusion, pain and fear. And the four he didn't recognise, not one of them sitting they had the additional sense of guilt and sadness and helplessness overriding anything else.

Kohta gasped. 'Mayu?' he asked.

The girl's eyes watered as she nodded, and two of the four standing turned to look at him.

The nurse smiled again. 'She's all clear to leave so you can go ahead and take her home,' she said.

'Thank you.' Kohta bowed, before turning to the teenagers. 'Come on.'

The four standing looked at each other before the smaller and younger of the two brunettes stepped forward.

'Wait…' he began, but the black haired man turned back to them.

'We can talk further at the inn.'

The four exchanged glances before shrugging. It looked like all of them were concerned with something else. It showed because they lagged behind the whole way, so far in fact that they didn't hear a single word of exchanged between the two 'relatives' in front, all the way until they reached the inn.

'This wasn't here,' Koji muttered, the first thing he had said since the scene in the graveyard. 'It wasn't…'

He broke off, but the others understood.

'It's sure weird being in the neighbourhood Koichi lives in and yet a world away from his house,' Takuya mused, looking around. 'He'd love this place.'

He would have, with the warm light and the Sakura trees, petals blowing in the gentle wind, and the stone steps…

It was just a mark of the guilt the younger twin was feeling that that statement was met with no reply.

The brown eyes darkened slightly, looking down.

The door opened and the two in front stepped over the threshold.

'Yuka?' Kohta walked forward a few steps. 'Nyu?'

A woman with short brown hair, looking the same age, appeared. 'Welcome home,' she said. 'Ah,' she smiled embarrassedly. 'I'm back, and Nyu was waiting.'

'Nyu came back too?' Kohta asked.

'It really did seem like she got lost,' the brunette explained.

The younger girl looked down awkwardly upon seeing the elder. 'Umm…' she said nervously. 'Good evening.'

Brown eyes widened, before widening further upon seeing the four still standing at the door, looking around. She didn't have time to ask for an explanation though when footholds sounded before another woman, this time familiar in some circles to all of them, came running up before launching herself at Kohta.

'I was worried, Nyu!'

There were five gasps of shock upon seeing the long pink hair and the two horns protruding her forehead. Koji's went extremely wide and he went to ask something, but Zoe nudged him quiet, pointing discretely at the confused young brunette girl.

'There's no way you could make legs fly off all of a sudden,' she said at the exact same moment, smiling sheepishly.

Legs fly off…?

A sharp intake of breath as he remembered the girl, Nana, wrapped in her Papa's blazer, limbless and bleeding a mess in the cemetery.

'What are you talking about?' the elder girl, Yuka, asked.

The younger flushed. 'Oh…nothing. Nothing at all. I just remembered a weird dream.'

Yuka smiled, before spreading her smile. 'Well,' she said, giving Kohta a "you better explain later" look. 'Come on in all of you. Dinner is almost ready.'

'We don't want to impose,' Zoe began, but Yuka cut her off.

'Oh, you're not imposing.' The brunette smiled warmly, reminding the other of a mother or an elder sister. 'I've made plenty.'

'Um…okay,' Mayu agreed, and the others wordlessly agreed as well. They did need to talk to Mayu of course, and they were hungry, what with the timing and all, and on top of that, if a girl in the household, looking somewhat like the elusive Lucy but without the frightening aura and coldness that surrounded her and replacing it with a more naïve and innocent look, had the same horns like the one that was still clutched in Koji's grip like a life-line, they would need to talk to her as well. Possibly warn her.

* * *

><p>Getting Koji to let go of the horn, or even clean his hand and shirt of the blood (the jacket had covered it in the street but he refused to change what was underneath) was another problem altogether. Yuka tried and failed, but eventually relented. Nor could she drag him to the table. Nor could Zoe or Takuya, so in the end they left him to his thoughts, clutching the bloodied horn as the others ate quietly, their own thoughts brewing.<p>

Both Yuka and Kohta eyed them curiously, but refrained from asking any questions with Mayu still there, exclaiming over the delicious meal. The three strangers forced smiles over their own faces as they thanked the cook, but once Yuka sent the young brunette off for a shower, the pair rounded on them.

'Where did you find her?' was the first question out of Kohta's mouth, surprising even his cousin.

'In the bushes over the side of the graveyard,' JP replied. He looked like he was about to elaborate, but changed his mind, or rather, his course. 'She looked like she had been shoved over.'

'Shoved over?' the boy repeated. 'Did you see anyone?'

He exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Takuya.

'There was a SAT team,' the younger brunette said. 'They said they were trying to neutralise some sort of…epidemic.' His voice shook. 'Something with those horns.' He pointed at Koji, who was still clutching the bloody horn, then made to point at Nyu, only to not find her. 'Um…where did Nyu go?'

Yuka stood up, peering around the door. 'It seems she went with Mayu,' she sighed, sitting back down. 'Won't she be a bother?' She sighed again. 'Aside from that…' She looked at the newcomers. 'Could you excuse us a moment?' she asked. 'Stay here; we'll be back.'

They nodded, and she grabbed Kohta's wrist before leading him out of the room.

'They're sure nice,' Zoe said, watching them leave before turning back to Takuya. 'Why did you tell them?' She didn't sound mad though, just somewhat defeated. The same way they all sounded at that point in time.

'That girl has horns too,' Takuya replied, leaning his head on his knees while looking at the closed door. 'I barely understand any of this, but I know she's in danger just by having those horns on her head.' He took a deep breath. 'Besides, maybe she knows something.'

'She looks eerily like that Lucy character,' JP commented, though he hadn't been the only one to realise the likeness. 'Almost like-' He cut off before he could utter the last word: twins.

'Did _she_ rip of that other girl's arms and legs?' Zoe whispered, shivering slightly at the thought. 'Even though we barely saw anything, it sounds so horrible…' She stopped. 'Is that what they're afraid of?'

'What do they think?' Koji asked, a little bitterly and finally looking up. 'Invisible arms grow from those horns and chop of limbs?'

No-one said anything, until the actual statement under the bitterness registered.

'Invisible arms?' Takuya repeated. 'What in the world gave you that idea?'

Koji bit his lip lightly, an odd habit of Koichi's when he was worried about something or someone. 'I could have sworn I felt him push me,' he said quietly, clutching the horn tighter in his grip. 'But I don't see how he could have pushed me that hard. It was almost as if there was an arm around my waist literally picking me up and throwing me out of danger.'

The other three looked down at that. 'I felt that too,' the blonde said. 'I thought it was one of you two.' She looked at the two remaining boys, both of whom shook her head.

'I think I felt that as well,' Takuya said, looking at JP who just nodded. 'Well, someone can't have four hands so I think I see where you got the idea form. But how do we know it wasn't Espeon's psychic powers?'

He shrugged forlornly. 'Either way, he _would_ do something as idiotically suicidal as that.' He winced slightly as the horn dug deeper into his hands. 'I just wish I could protect him from it all, even when I'm the younger twin. And-' He cut off, throwing his face into his blood-coated palm. 'Even still, I can't help but envy him.'

Zoe stared at him in slight shock. '_Envy_?'

But Takuya, having a sibling of his own, understood.

'I'll bet he does too,' he said soothingly, putting a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. I'll bet he's envying you right now. You saw his face; I'm not sure I can say at this stage if he detested those horns or not, but he certainly didn't like them. And besides, it's normal for siblings to envy each other. It's normal for anyone to envy someone else. The grass is always greener on the other side, right? But that's not going to change anything…is it?'

He smiled warmly at the other who slowly returned the smile.

'Now, Koichi won't be too pleased once he finds out you were starving and hurting yourself for him.' He pointed at the spare bowl and plate. 'Go eat.'


	18. Reception

Author's Notes

The first scene with Nyu actually does happen in the anime, and it was a rather awkward scene, so I threw it in to break the gloomy atmosphere. Goodness knows it needs breaking.

The last scene happens after Professor Kakuzawa's beheaded body was discovered. This is the son of the Kakuzawa mentioned in chapter 16.

Next chapter it's back to Koichi and Tommy.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 18<span>

Reception

The door suddenly slid open and all four occupants of the room gaped at the naked woman standing there before the sight registered on the three males and they quickly covered their eyes for modesty's sake.

Zoe opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Yuka appeared at the door.

'Don't put boys into awkward situations again,' she scolded, putting Nyu into a headlock and dragging her off, presumably back to the bath seeing as she was partially covered in soapy water. 'Make sure you clean yourself properly.'

'Sorry.' That was Mayu's voice. 'She just ran off.'

'That was…weird.' JP blinked under his palms, before removing them once he heard the footsteps fade away, before two returned and Yuka slid the door open again, only this time with Kohta behind her.

'We would like to talk now,' Kohta said quietly. 'Mayu and Nyu are both asleep.' He paused for a moment. 'Do you have a place to stay for the night?'

It was JP who shook his head. 'No,' he reiterated. 'We came to visit a friend, but…our plans got ruined.'

It was a small lie, but if no-one recognised anything save vaguely the place; the Kamakura here was different to their Kamakura where Koichi and his mother lived, so there wasn't much else they could do. The only reason they would willingly go to Kamakura though would be to visit Koichi, so there was some truth in the statement, and also a reasonably legitimate reason why they could no longer do so.

'Ruined?' Kohta repeated. 'You mentioned a SAT team, and horns like Nyu?'

Three of them looked at each other, and the fourth looked onto his lap, and the horn, before putting it on the table.

Both cousins gasped. 'That's-'

'That's our friend's,' Takuya interrupted, before nodding at Koji. 'His brother.'

Yuka stretched a hand towards it, before pulling it back. No-one else made a move, till Kohta finished the moment and looked more closely at it. 'It looks like it was blown off.'

'It was.' Takuya gritted his teeth. 'Shot off more precisely. And for no good reason.' His hands curled into fists. 'Just because he had those horns on his head, they tried to kill him.'

Yuka looked down sadly, but the male had picked up on the key word. 'Wait, tried? What made them stop?'

Takuya started to answer, but Zoe quickly stomped on his foot and answered in his stead, her own voice convincingly shaking. 'No, he died. They couldn't score a clean shot, but-' Her voice shook even further, forcing her to break off and JP to put an arm around the teary blonde. In her mind, she remembered the other's warning. 'It's worth more than your lives and his to mention this to anyone else.' They'd said so much already, but they seemed so trustworthy, and that horned woman, if she was in any danger and what information they had could help…but that last bit had seemed especially important. They were was no way of knowing how far that threat seemed to reach, but it definitely covered the last part.

'Oh, I'm so sorry,' said the brunette woman. 'We must seem so insensitive asking all these questions.

Three shakes of the head and a forced smile. 'We need to talk about this,' JP said, looking over at Koji who had taken the horn back.

The two cousins looked at each other. 'Is Nyu in danger then?' Yuka asked worriedly. 'Is this why you've been worried so much about her?'

Kohta shrugged. 'I didn't know it went this far,' he admitted. 'I didn't know they were killing innocent people. But why? What's the threat?'

They shook their heads. It wasn't that they didn't know, but they didn't no the truth, nor did it seem like a good idea to reveal that particular piece of information. The only reason they mentioned the SAT was because the girl Mayu had mentioned seeing them on an earlier occasion.

'The man mentioned they carry some sort of virus. They're afraid of it becoming an epidemic.'

'He wouldn't hurt a fly,' Koji muttered, a little disconnected from the ongoing discussion. 'This is the guy who'll gently pick up spiders and put them on a leaf in the garden instead of killing them like most people would.'

'Or keep them as pets,' Zoe pointed out, a small smile tweaking her face. 'Remember that time? Takuya screamed like a girl.'

'Oh shut up. I didn't think he would do something _that_ crazy. I mean, come on. What if the spider was poisonous?'

'Anyway,' Yuka said. 'If you've all got no-where to stay, you can stay here for tonight. Do your families know what happened?'

There were three shaking heads, and Zoe gave them a tearful look again. Now that the tears had started, she couldn't seem to stop them.

'We were planning on visiting for a few weeks,' she confessed. 'We couldn't-we can't-' She broke off again, peaking through her lashes as Yuka came around and put an arm around her.

'Don't cry,' she said, a little uselessly, before turning to Kohta for confirmation. 'You all can stay as long as you need to.'

Kohta nodded, before grinning in an attempt to lighten the damp atmosphere. 'At least there are more boys now,' he said, before his cousin hit him on the head. 'Oww…'

'You insensitive jerk,' Yuka yelled, and Zoe gave a bit of a watery laugh. They reminded her of herself and Takuya.

* * *

><p>'So you don't know anything?' Koji asked, a little desperately as he helped Kohta with the dishes, trying to hide his trembling hands. 'About those horns, or why-?'<p>

'No, I'm afraid not,' Kohta frowned, scrubbing another plate clean before giving the younger boy drying the plates a glance out of the corner of his eyes. 'Those plates go in the corner cabinet. Bottom shelf.'

Koji put them where he had been told, and wiped off the last plate as the other closed the tap off and wiped his hands.

'Are you sure you want to be talking about this?'

Koji nodded, putting the last plate away. 'I need to know why,' he said with a quiet resolve. 'I can't stand not knowing, and at the very least we can try to stop it happening again.'

'We thought it might be a good idea to keep those horns hidden, but we didn't consider how important that would be,' the older male mused, watching Nyu dance around Yuka as the latter fit ribbons in her hair, and more specifically, around her horns. 'But she wonders around so much we can't honestly expect her to stay inside. And I doubt she'd even understand…' His voice trailed off a moment as he reminisced. 'She didn't understand a word we said when we first found her, washed up on the beach,' he explained. 'We couldn't understand it either: no memories, no speaking skills except the nonsensical phrase "Nyu" and she wasn't even wearing anything…' A light blush coated his cheeks, and Koji couldn't help but note that the other looked like an older version of his brother. Heck, they even dressed the same.

'I'm not sure if we should take her to university with us,' he confessed, leaning against the sink. 'She's getting better at things, but still…' He trailed off again. 'On the other hand, it's not a good idea to leave her here. She'd probably either get lost or follow us.' He bit his lip lightly; another Koichi reaction. 'I guess it should be okay…so long as no-one asks her a question. Are you all sure you're fine here?'

Koji nodded. 'Sure,' he mumbled, though it sounded like he was already thinking about something else. 'We'll be fine.'

Kohta didn't look entirely convinced but he let it go. 'If you say so,' he said doubtfully.

* * *

><p>'Nothing,' he groaned once the other three had left. 'Absolutely nothing.'<p>

'You don't know that,' Zoe said comfortingly, putting a hand around his shoulders. 'You found out at least they found Nyu on the beach, so maybe she escaped from where they held her, lost her memories and all that, and drifted ashore.'

'If that's true though,' JP pointed out, a little more rationally. 'We won't be able to get there easily, and it's probably going to be under high guard.' The only thing over there is an off-shore oil platform.'

'In our Japan,' the blonde argued.

'Land mass won't change,' the other rebuked. 'If it's not an oil platform, it'll be something else. The point is, it's only reachable by air. Remember when Dad went to visit it? They needed a helicopter to make it up that steep cliff. And if Nyu did escape from there, she'd have to have fallen off that cliff edge.'

'So you're basically saying it's impossible for a bunch of kids,' Koji surmised, burying his face again before striking the ground with a closed fist. 'There _has_ to be a way. Find something, _someone_-'

'To be honest,' the warrior of thunder confessed, sound extremely guilty about having to confess this. 'I think he stands a better chance getting out than us getting in. Besides, Tommy's with him.'

'There's comfort in that at least,' Zoe sighed.

'We'll just have to believe in them, and try and find out more here. Hey, where's Takuya?'

He had suddenly noted the absence of their last member.

'He's bringing wood for the dog house outside,' Zoe pointed out, being the only one who knew. All of them had been more than happy to help out with the chores; it kept them busy and less like a liability, and also gave them the chance to think without curling into a corner, to be honest, the more healthier version.

JP stood up. 'I'll go help him. I need to start building it anyway.'

* * *

><p>They were all surprised when Kohta and Yuka returned late and without Nyu.<p>

'Professor Kakuzawa took custody over her,' Yuka explained quietly, looking at Kohta who had walked past them silently and was now staring at the grandfather clock, hands frozen. 'He said she was his younger brother's daughter, and her name was Lucy.'

Four heads shot up rapidly at that. 'Lucy?' Takuya repeated. That name was oh-so-familiar. 'He's probably lying!' he exclaimed, and Kohta turned at the doorway at the panicked tone.

'What is it?' he asked, tone odd.

'Lucy was the name the other guy mentioned.' The volume of his voice was rising. 'The diclonius they were chasing. Her eyes were different though, and just the aura she projected; it was so different from Nyu. That's not important though; they were trying to capture Lucy and take her somewhere.'

Yuka out a finger in her mouth and bit her nail lightly. 'This doesn't sit well with me either,' she confessed.

Kohta nodded. 'I thought it was just because we didn't want her to leave, even when she had her own family, but…' He shook his head. 'I'm going.'

'Right now?' his cousin exclaimed. 'It's late.'

'He might still be in there.' The other shrugged his coat on again, before turning to Yuka who made to put on his own. 'No, you stay here. I won't be long.'

'I'm coming too,' Takuya said, shaking his head at Zoe and Koji, both of whom were about to say the same. '_I'm_ going.'

Zoe scowled at him. 'Because I'm a girl?'

'No, because you can stop Koji from doing something stupid,' the boy said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up. 'How can anyone hang around you and be sexist?'

'Oh, and what was that with Vespiquen then?'

They were focusing far more on things than they normally would.

'I was worried you'd get lost on your own,' he explained. 'It didn't matter who, just so much as none of us knew exactly where we were.'

That made no sense to the two onlookers.

'And why can't you do the babysitting?'

'Are you kidding? We'll kill each other.'

'…true.'

'How about I just go?' JP interrupted.

Takuya shrugged. 'If you want. Come on.'

He marched right out the door, before anyone could get a word in edgewise. JP shrugged, grabbed his coat and followed, leaving Kohta to jog a few paces to catch up.

'Do you even know where the university is?'

'Umm…you lead the way.'

* * *

><p>'They're lying,' Takuya said resolutely as the three slowly walked back.<p>

'Whatever she said,' JP said quietly. 'I'm sure she thought it was the truth.'

'Not her,' the other said, a little exasperated. 'Whoever gave her the information. It contradicts what-' He broke off, but Kohta hadn't seemed to register the belated slip. 'Should we tell him?' he whispered. 'I mean, this kinda changes things, doesn't it?'

'You mean that scientist giving us all that information before shoving us out after spotting something?' JP asked back, a little sarcastically. 'It is rather suspicious, but I see what you mean. We might as well; I feel bad lying to them after they trusted us like that.'

'Yeah…' he raised his voice, hailing Kohta who stopped walking and turned.

'They're lying about killing everyone who carries that so-called virus,' the brunette said. 'Anyone they think is useful, they take somewhere. That was why they were after Nyu. They think she's Lucy, and she's valuable enough to send another horned girl and an entire SAT team after.'

Kohta looked at them. 'How do you know this?' he asked, before it suddenly dawned on him. 'Unless…'

They looked a little uncomfortable. 'Well, we kind of lied. They did try to kill our friend, but when he reacted after both horns had been blown off, they changed their minds and took him away instead. They said it's worth more than all our lives to tell this to anyone, which is why we didn't say anything before, but…'

'Then why tell me now?'

The two brunettes looked at each other. 'In that room,' JP began. 'You saw something, didn't you? You were ahead of us.'

Remembering the blood and the beheaded body, he nodded, face a little paler than usual.

'Then neither of us think it matters anymore, between that and harboring a girl with horns.'


	19. Intention

Author's Notes

Okay, all diclonii in the show were shown to have pink hair and eyes. So I twisted that a little.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 19<span>

Intention

Director General Kakuzawa looked at the fourteen year old diclonius within the previously empty isolation hold. Actually, he was looking through a surveillance camera, not prepared to risk his own life for the reformatting of the next generation of humankind.

Bound and restrained, he was forced upright in a tungsten-built structure, forcing his head erect and his hands at his sides. Despite being held upright, the head lolled forward, and the wires attached to him and radiating outwards brought back various intel, but more so told he was yet to establish a satisfactory level of consciousness.

'Any change?' he asked, almost conversationally, turning away from the footage to Director Kurama, standing at attention and head lowered in a slight bow.

Kurama raised his head. 'The pigments in his eyes continue to change,' he explained. 'Red now outnumbered the original blue pigmentation, giving the eyes a purple hue. A dark orchid precisely. His hair pigments are changing too; it's become evident on the first new strands growing through the old blue. His awareness levels are rising, so he is expected to regain consciousness any day now. His DNA has continued mutating, and we've had trouble pinpointing the origin of the mutation.'

'Really?' he looked interested. 'So the virus didn't originate from Lucy's vectors?'

'It's hard to tell,' the other confessed. 'There are many unusual things about this particular Diclonius. Like how he didn't even seem aware of his horns, or vectors, or how he was still able to disable about two thirds of the SAT's weapons. Or why every part of his body was spared impact from the bullets except the horns (which had regrown by that time) that mark him as a diclonius?'

'I'm not interested in questions Kurama. I'm interested in answers.'

'Yes sir.'

* * *

><p>The black cat purred worriedly at the feet of the restriction vessel. They left food enough for him through the door, and drink. Even companionship, letting his wonder of his own free will (relatively; Doctor Yamasaki kept a sharp eye on him) around the laboratory, probably because they assumed that, being a cat, he didn't have the understanding or the capability to understand, process and pass on that knowledge to someone else that could be a potential danger of them. He, he left them to underestimate him, taking the time to explore the numerous contraptions, tricks and turns of the plans, knowing it would be useful in the future. Hopefully, the near future.<p>

He knew his friend had no such luxury. As far as he knew, the other, even if consciousness, would barely even be able to twitch his fingers reflexively, let alone move, was fed through tubes and experimented on even when comatose. He also knew it would worsen once the other emerged from the current vegetative state; he had watched through the watch-glass as they shot balls with increased momentum and differing materials to test the strength and range of vectors. And that was the tamest of the experiments or training they conducted. So many of the rooms were coated with blood.

He had absolutely no idea how they managed to prevent viruses or bacteria or any form of illness. They didn't seem to care though. He heard what had happened during the lockdown.

His ears perked upon hearing a soft groan from the restriction vessel. He purred insistently, to be eventually rewarded by a groan a little louder, and then a soft, hoarse: 'wha-?'

Tommy purred louder. Hopefully the other remembered.

'T-Tommy?'

Someone walked in at that point.

* * *

><p>Everything was so dark he considered for a few long minutes whether or not he was still unconscious. He was sure he hadn't been asleep for two, three actually, reasons: the last thing he remembered was being shot at for no reason that made sense to him so there wasn't exactly any time to fall asleep unless he was afflicted with retrograde amnesia, he could feel needles pricking into his skin, a tube canal wrapped around his head and through his nostrils and some form of cold restraint, and the fact that he was upright. Seriously, how could someone expect him to fall asleep on his feet…unless he was that exhausted. Which he kind of was, but that wasn't the point.<p>

And he certainly hadn't dreamt his last memories up, seeing as he could vaguely hear purring somewhere below him.

'T-Tommy?'

A purr answered him, acknowledging but a little urgent. That spurred his still lethargic mind into some sort of physical action. He tried to move his eyes, blinking rapidly in case there was something wrong with his vision, but both movements failed. He tried moving the other hand. Same result.

He heard the door open, a deep resulting bang that echoed in his mind. Nothing was moving at all. A threatening hiss from Tommy. That was when he panicked. Restrained, blind, utterly powerless and being unable to understand a thing Tommy was trying to tell him. He struggled, even though his mind knew it was futile. He heard footsteps. He felt things creeping down his arms and back and thigh. He struggled. He screamed, but he didn't have the energy to keep either of the two useless actions up. At least there was the small comfort of knowing Tommy was only a few paces away from him, even if he couldn't see the other.

'Are you done?' a male voice asked conversationally.

For a moment, he couldn't muster up a voice. Even with little strength, he trembled. Unable to see or move or do anything was a frightening situation; it was the stuff nightmares were made of. His nightmares. The stifling, powerless, restrictive feeling. Just being an object someone could poke and prod and shape to their needs. He'd been in that situation once before, and despite the lengths he had come from it, it was something he feared. In fact, the only thing he feared more was blood.

'Hmm, that's better.' There was a pause. 'Don't bother trying to activate your vectors; with the metal plate covering your eyes, you won't be able to aim and would most likely kill either yourself or the cat before you hit one of us.'

He heard the underlining threat, but the rest of it made no sense to him.

'Speaking of the cat,' the other continued. 'I suggest you cooperate…for its safety, as you Diclonius don't have any hearts for yourselves or other humans.'

Wisely, Koichi kept silent.

'The cat seems quite familiar with you, yes?'

He took a bit of a shaky breath, trying to even out his breathing, before answering. 'Y-yes, but I-I don't understand-'

They were interrupted by a new arrival, and the male suddenly changed his tone to one of respect.

'Director Kurama sir.'

He vaguely recognised the new voice. The man in the pressed suit who had touched on the darker corners of his past. How, he had no idea…but he thought it had all been done with. Over. Gone. So why were they coming back to haunt him?

Or maybe he had been right, and he hadn't deserved the mercy shown to him. But they: Koji, Takuya, Zoe, Tommy, JP, Patamon, Bokomon, Neemon…even Ophanimon, had given it to him, so it was left to other people to serve justice's hand. Or so most of him said; a small part protested against the very idea. Sure, he'd let his emotions get the better of him. Who hadn't? Hadn't Takuya's rage clouded him and contributed a part of Susanoomon? Hadn't Cherubimon basically done the same thing he had? And his friends, the people that really mattered, had forgiven him. So what right had someone who had absolutely nothing to do with him try and punish him for something long gone? He'd changed, and that was what counted…right?

'Leave us.'

'Sir, is that wise?'

'Wiser perhaps than your own presence alone.' There was a sound of flesh tapping metal, then a brief moment of silence wherein only a hiss from the black cat permeated. Then…

'Of course sir. My apologies.'

The sound of footsteps accompanied him out the door.

* * *

><p>Tommy sounded a little more placate once the door slid shut. Electronically he thought, as he didn't hear the tell-tale bang that normal doors emitted when slamming shut. He supposed it wasn't too surprising; what he could make out of his restraints seemed more high tech than he would have expected in a kidnapping or arrest situation. He assumed the truth was closer to the first option than the second; they wouldn't require a hostage if he was under arrest for something or other, ignoring the fact he was technically a minor and couldn't legally be arrested and withheld in the first place.<p>

It suddenly hit him. Why was Tommy a cat anyway? Why did he have horns on his head? Just what sick and twisted world had they wound up in; he much preferred Espeon.

Actually, Espeon had been a brief reprieve he wasn't sure he would ever touch again. There had been a freedom there not present in his human form, or really, in any human. The world seemed so much simpler; the weather was predictable, as were those of good intent or those who intended to fight against him. The fine hairs had led him sense things and be useful in a way no-one else was; in fact, he could feel the small hairs on his skin standing up and goosebumps rising beneath them. It was raining, he realised. Somewhere outside, wherever that was, it was raining. Modestly too. Whatever time it was here, it wasn't the time they had left behind, even if the brief glimpse of the graveyard had seemed oh so familiar.

He didn't know why he had said that out loud. He hadn't intentionally done it, nor consciously. It was as if part of him was watching and feeling the rain, leaving only a part of the mental functioning associated with thought and speech. Not enough to decide which thoughts that fluttered through his mind at the brief glitch in time should be expressed aloud and which not.

'It is,' the other confirmed, looking surprised. 'How do you know?'

Tommy hissed a warning.

'I felt it,' the other said, and he wasn't lying, nor omitting, anything from the short answer.

'Interesting,' the man commented. 'But we don't need weather reporters.'

'What do you need?' Kouichi asked, seeking understanding as much as the other sought answers. Tommy seemed more placate; perhaps he was more to trust than another. In any case, he had no choice but to work with whatever sounds he could make out, being unable to see anything else at all.

No, that wasn't true at all he realised once his mind wondered a little in the silence, trying to search out the cell whilst his eyes remained covered. Unless they were flash-like images of a forgotten dream. For a good reason too; splatters of blood covering dull grey stone with naked bodies chained to a side, small balls being shot at prone figures until they were unable to block (how did they do that anyway?), one particular girl with short pink hair and large eyes a darker rose and wrapped in bandages while crying out for her father in a fever, and another, far younger and frailer but with an emotion far more frightening…like he had been, he realised, and pity swelled inside of him. That young girl, whoever she was, was waiting desperately for her family, the same family that she had either been taken away from, or the one who had abandoned her. It could be both, but he sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter.

Perhaps in another circumstance he might not have dared to even ask; he still trembled slightly; bound tightly as he was, he was afraid of what lay beyond his sight. But Tommy's presence was a comfort-no, a necessity he could not do without in such a situation as this.

'Information,' Kurama responded, almost calmly. 'To help us understand, control and one day reverse this epidemic, as well as to keep the general public safe and blissfully unaware.'

'Epidemic?'

If it was some sort of disease, how had he contracted it so quickly? And why keep the people ignorant?

He voiced as much.

There was an odd sort of noise before a reply was heard.

'How about we make a deal?' the older man suggested instead. 'We've already let your cat wonder around of his free well so long as his safety is not in jeopardy, and fed him appropriately. Essentially, he acts as both a hostage for us and a companion for you; a comfort we don't necessarily have to give. We can bar his access from this room and force your hand at cooperation for its safety and well-being; we haven't done so only because you were in no condition to say either way.'

'I highly doubt you need a hostage,' Koichi said slowly, trying to piece together the information he already knew (or perhaps dreamt up) in his mind and trying to ignore the restraints. It was better if he didn't think about that. 'What with the manpower and other…' he hesitated to say prisoners, but in the end, he wasn't left with much choice. '…prisoners.'

'Test subjects,' the other corrected. 'And you are right. We don't, however should the fish we're after rise to simpler baits, so much the better.' There was a pause. 'How do you know about the others?'

I dreamt them up? That sounded stupid to him, even in his head.

'I don't know.'

'You lie.'

He cursed silently. Even a complete stranger knew when he was lying.

'Well?' Kurama asked, impatiently but with a tint of apprehension.

'I-' The boy hesitated, but seeing as he had little choice, he answered. 'I dreamt it…I think.'

'You think?' Now the tone was professionally curious.

'I'm…not sure.'

Another pause, as the scientist regarded his options. 'The offer?' he prompted.

The other drew in a sharp breath. 'Please explain.'

'Pets can be a bit of a nuisance,' Kurama explained, remembering the dog that barked and bit like no end when they had tried to capture a diclonius some years back. 'However we will care for yours and allow him to accompany you except at times we're…researching, so long as you remain entirely cooperative, which mean following instructions given to you, and making no attempt to use your vectors to harm anyone in this facility. One toe out of line, and we'll kill the cat. Is that understood?'

'Vectors?' Kouichi repeated, before the rest of the implications clicked. He was not going to be some sort of lab animal! But then again, he realised as the reality sunk in after the brief start. What choice was there? For him…or for Tommy. If it was just him, it would be different…or perhaps not. He wasn't sure he had the courage to make that decision, but it didn't matter because it wasn't only his life in the hands of the other side. 'You'd kill an innocent-?' He quickly cut himself off before he let slip, doing his best to ignore the insistent mewls that had started up again.

'You don't know what vectors are?' The tone somehow managed to sound both sceptical and unsurprised.

'Things that carry viruses.'

'Well, that's the generic definition.' There was a bit of a sigh. 'Do you know anything about Diclonii?'

'Never heard of them until you mentioned the term.'

'I suspected as much.' A pause, then: 'when did you first realise the horns on your head?'

How was he going to explain that little issue?

'When the jacket fell off my head, and you haven't answered my other question. Why are you involving innocents in a situation like this?'

An almost stifling silence that time, and the prisoner could almost feel the other's eyes boring into his own, despite the fact that something still obscured his vision. And then finally, the answer came.

'I've killed and ordered the deaths of many like you, a dozen of which were only babies and one of which was my own daughter. Once my wife found out, she committed suicide.'

'You're lying,' the other rebuked. 'One thing about the inability to lie is that it becomes far easier to detect lies in other's words. You didn't kill your daughter, nor did your wife commit suicide because of it.'

There was a bit of a scowl, then a sad: 'She might as well have. The reason she's dead is because I was to kill my daughter.'

The other kept silent.

'As for my daughter, it's easier to think she's dead. She's far out of my reach now.'

_Papa..?_

'What about the girl in the black dress?'

'Nana is different.' It was said with such resolution that both listeners couldn't help but believe it. 'Diclonii are instinctive murderers; it is a personality in them they cannot avoid. Their horns mark them out from regular humans. By the age of three they begin their murder spree, killing first their parents and anyone else living with them before attacking humans at large. They have arm like projections we call vectors; most have four. They can be solid enough to cut through things and grab objects, and transparent enough to pass through other objects. Their control is based on the mind of the diclonius who wields them, and their range is also dependent on the diclonius. We use the term diclonius to label anyone born with those horns and they are all removed from society. Some are removed for experimentation so we may find out more about this virus that is transmitted through these vectors into sterile female offspring, though there are a few notable exceptions like yourself, and all others are killed to prevent the human race from dying out.'

Kouichi remained silent, trying to process the overload of information and gauging it for a lie. However emotionlessly as the report had been given however, there was no falsehood to be detected.

It explained at least what the other had meant.

'Once the first blood stains your hands, it becomes easier.'

That was true. It was just the first hurdle to be overcome, and accepted.

And it was looking like he would have to go through that mental battle again.


	20. Training

Author's Notes

Hand gun bullets are of low velocity (250 m/s) and low energy (200-300 J). Rifle bullets are high velocity (750-1000 m/s) and high energy (2-3 kJ). I looked it up. I think Lucy could deflect rifle bullets seeing as she took down the SAT team, and while Koichi's not as strong as Lucy, he has to be able to seeing as I had him deflect the SAT's bullets in chapter 16.

Remember that while Kurama left a while after Shirawaka, he didn't find Nana till after her. This is because Kurama, not being a diclonius, doesn't have the telepathic ability to detect other diclonii so he's walking blind. Shirakawa had Mariko.

Wabun code is the Japanese version of Morse code. Useful communicator, but Koichi can't move so it's harder for him to respond back.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 20<span>

Training

The stench of blood froze his nostrils, clouding his senses. It was irrational, he knew, not to mention hindering as he could still distinctly hear the shouts through the loudspeaker, his own whimpers of pain, and the bangs of metal bullets bouncing of metal and stone.

They stopped eventually, and he would have gladly given in to unconsciousness it the loudspeakers would stop bursting static into his ears.

'It appears 3.5 metres is the limit,' a female voice confirmed, and the familiar male voice of Director Kurama acknowledged it.

'How many?' a new voice asked, one that almost trembled with power. It was accompanied by a snarl he recognised as Tommy's way of showing a mix of fear and anger.

'Seven sir,' the female replied.

'As opposed to the usual four.' There was an almost teasing silence, as if there was something underlining, some sort of joke or threat he knew nothing about. 'That's…unusual.'

'There's quite a bit unusual about this diclonius,' the female affirmed. 'For someone who a little over a month ago hadn't been aware of his vectors, he's able to deflect above the 270 joule limit that young diclonii are recorded at. It is even above that which shot-guns and rifles can fire.'

'But he is not young,' the unfamiliar male said calmly. 'What is the precise limit?'

'Just under 2 kilo-joules.'

There was a pause, then an interested: 'really? Lucy's is 4, so he is not too far from her level.'

* * *

><p>Kouichi was straining to listen, head and senses still swimming with nausea and paralysis. Once he got the hang of commanding the vectors (he found it was like commanding his normal limbs, once he had worked out how many of them there were and what to reach for), it had simply been a job of predicting the arrival of the ball and deflecting it away from himself and Tommy…until they came with such strength that he could no longer do so. They had removed the metal sheet plate covering his eyes but left the helmet locked in place. They had also removed the lids of small holes in his restraints; just enough so that any metal balls he missed would pass straight through and into his flesh. The first one had hit and drawn blood, and that had let all others following to do the same.<p>

Static still burst in his ear, but that didn't stop him from hearing the next statement, even amongst the worried purring of the black cat that kept vigil upon him. The soft scrapings through the static silence told him that the other was trying to climb up to him.

'Release another ball.'

With Tommy latched onto him? Were they crazy?

He threw all the mental and physical power he had into hitting that ball. Hitting him was one thing, but he couldn't let it hit Tommy, who was only there in the first place because of him.

The ball ricocheted and bounced off something made of stone.

'Hmm…continue with the testing.'

There was a small period of silence, before the reply of 'yes sir' answered.

* * *

><p>Director Kurama would have fallen into his comfortable chair but he did have some dignity to maintain.<p>

'Leave me,' he requested of his second in command, Shirakawa, who bowed and did as she was asked.

Three photos on his desk gleamed at him: one with his pregnant wife and himself as happy as can be before tragedy struck, one with Nana in her black dress for the first time, and one with Kisaragi, the personal assistant that had been killed by Lucy during her escape.

Nana…he hoped she was okay, safe, living her life somewhere away from the darkness of this facility. He supposed he should be thankful that the new diclonius' capture had deterred Kakuzawa's attention, but the other would deal with him in due time. He had far too many ties between Nana and Mariko, but he could do nothing about the latter and little for the former except ensure she could live a safe life.

That would be impossible with Lucy still out on the loose. Lucy who had killed Kisaragi. Lucy who had ripped off Nana's limbs.

A purring drew his attention from the photos and to the door, where the cat which number thirty-six had called "Tommy". He supposed it was unfair to keep calling him "number thirty-six" – Koichi he said his name was, though they had been unable to find any proof of his existence. It was if he had suddenly appeared in their world, but the very idea was ludicrous.

Tommy came over to him before gently leaping upon his lap. The older man accepted the comfort instead of pushing him away, not bothering to argue with the green piercing eyes. "I know your face," they seemed to say. "I know you're not as bad as you appear. I know you're a good man."

Once more, he looked at Nana's photo, before picking it up. He had to know that he had at least succeeded with her. For it was the only shred left of his humanity.

Child, adolescent and adult. He'd coated his hands with the blood of all three.

He made up his mind. He had to know, and he knew where Shirakawa was asked to report to after leaving him. He knew what Kakuzawa was planning, though it would take days at the very least for her to cooperate and be ready for trouble.

He knew that would sent their most powerful force to obliterate his betrayal. To kill Nana. He had to make sure he was safe, even if the chances of making it were slim.

He picked up the intercom, calling for a lower ranked assistant, someone who was likely to unconsciously delay the discovery process.

'Prepare a small vessel,' he commanded. 'I have a meeting to attend on the mainland.'

'The vessel will be prepared within the hour,' came the reply.

The black cat took his leave at that moment.

* * *

><p>It took awhile for Tommy to attract Koichi's attention, the latter whose mind was torn between utter unconsciousness, the painful reality and half-understood dreams that alternated between his brother and friends and the facility they were trapped in. The cat leapt up to head level and banged on the metal casing around the other's head until a low groan informed him the other was conscious, and listening.<p>

He continued banging, this time in a precise manner, spelling out what he had found out in Waben code. For the past two weeks he had been informing the other of details the scientists decided were not an experiment's concern but would be useful in an escape attempt. Of course, the other option was waiting for the device to activate, but it had been more than a month and a half already so perhaps the first option would succeed first.

They were lucky the scientists hadn't been able to remove it. The down-side was Kurama knew the other had lied about its function, but for some reason had led it go. Everything was randomly monitored after all, but it seemed at least they didn't know Italian. It was a little comforting, as it was easier to Koichi to reply back in the little Italian he had learned from Zoe, her parents and books than it was to reply back in Waben code in his current situation.

So Tommy explained about the Director's sudden departure and the photos he had been looking at, particularly the one of the girl they both had seen at the graveyard.

Koichi sighed somewhat despondently, voice echoing in the metal confides. 'Sono morta…' he breathed.

Tommy hissed at him.

'Ha un cuore…'

Tommy banged his reply. _So does everyone_.

'You know what I mean.' Koichi reverted to Japanese there; it seemed imprudent to waste valuable resource on something of no use to anyone else.

The other realised the point. Kurama at least stopped at the level between animal experimentation and the line that crossed into death-by-torture. He at least insured the subjects would still live; he might be an interesting specimen, but he wasn't as strong as Lucy and that seemed to be all they were interested in beneath all else. It didn't take a genius to figure that out after watching Kakuzawa and the two little horns on his head…both of them actually. The professor that met a sticky end after trying to become the next Adam with Lucy as the next Eve, and the Director General who worked for the virus, taking his son's death with no shiver of heart and his apprentice as the new worker. Of course, there was the possibility he was dreaming it all up, but Tommy had checked and validated the woman's involvement for him; Director General Kakuzawa certainly did not have a thing for cats.

The black cat banged on the metal casing with his paws in a new fevour. _We have to try and escape._

There was an almost hopeless pause, then: 'Come? I vettori non sono abbastanza forti…' Another pause, then with a spark of hope, he added: 'Forse ... le articolazioni…'

The joints would be weaker than the actual casings, but they would only have one chance.

_We have less than an hour_.

Tommy leapt down carefully, examining the metal

It was a good thing he played with models when he was young. A good thing he payed enough attention to his father's building plans to know what the weaker points were. A good thing he had practice; the snow catapult was certainly his pride and joy with Datamon's helpful inputs…though not all had been helpful at the time.

He reeled off the information to Koichi to carefully drew a mental map of the situation. That he was good at; he drew an awful lot more than the average person and had even considered trying out for the animation school in Tokyo central though he still had time to weigh up the pros and cons of the situation.

They couldn't really afford to make a mistake. And they didn't. The vectors sliced through the weaker points of the restraints and the boy fell to the ground.

Tommy mewled insistently, but he needn't have done so. The alarms blaring were sign enough. Two uniformed men and a scientist ran into the room, guns aimed and looking like they were walking into the lion's den…which they were, so to speak. Every diclonius that had managed to escape the initial confines had slaughtered the guards posted.

But they were just doing their jobs. He couldn't kill them for that. He didn't think, or perhaps he simply hoped, he couldn't, or rather wouldn't, kill them at all.

The vectors stretched out, firmly pressing a well known pressure point between the neck and shoulder-blade joints (it came in handy sometimes having a brother that was a martial artist).

Tommy mewled something.

'Inconscio,' the other said softly, picking himself off the ground and somewhat weakly pushing the remains of his prison off his body. He trembled, head spinning slightly, but was only once he managed to push up the metal sheet covering his eyes that he realised the two reasons were actually unrelated.

His head was spinning because there was still blood on him. His blood. But it was mostly dry so if he didn't look at it, he could forget it was there with his mind occupied by more important matters. He was trembling, he just realised for the first time, because his skin was in direct contact with the cold hard stone.

Where are my clothes..? he thought dumbly, before shaking his head and crawling over to the unconscious bodies. They didn't have much time before someone came to check on them; they needed to get out.

Tommy purred insistently again as the other fumbled with the lab coat of the scientist. It was long enough to cover him; it would do for the time being, at least until he found his back-pack. His yutaka was still in there, as was the jacket. And he did have the money for the train-pass too. Paws scratched at the helmet as the cat reared up on his hind legs, but Koichi made no move to remove it.

'Lasciarlo.'

His legs shook a little as he stood; having not been used for so long, they weren't in the best condition. They had loosened the restraints around them periodically though, so they still had strength in them. Hopefully enough to get the two of them out.

Tommy shot off once the other was up, pawing at the closed door before banging out quick instructions. A vector passed through the door, turning the manual override from the other side and feeling a bullet blindly hit and deflect.

Feeling the brief shock, he extended the rest of his vectors, covering both Tommy and himself and pushing them gently out of the way as they rushed through. Tommy led him through twists and turns, and even into an air duct which resulted in them shaking of security…finally, and then into a small hanger where a lone woman was departing, away from the chaos they had left behind.

'E 'quasi troppo facile...' he whispered, barely making a sound. Why he didn't switch back to Japanese, he didn't really know.

_They're prejudice against Diclonii_ came the equally quiet response. _They don't expect an escape attempt that's quiet. They expect a massacre, so that's what they're prepared for in the holding._

Of course, they wouldn't expect quite the same from Arakawa, the scientist who had worked with the late Professor Kakuzawa. And of course, not everyone is lucky to have friends like him.

_We'd better hurry before someone figures out where we went. Or Kurama leaves_.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately it was a rather small helicopter, made for only three passengers and the pilot. As such, the best they could do to avoid discovery was cram themselves with the emergency kit and hope Kurama took the front seat and left any luggage on the back seats.<p>

What happened was he took the back seat, but at least he left his bag beside him. A screen separated him from the pilot who took off barely moments later.

They were all rather lucky that the plane was in the air before Tommy ran out and onto Kurama's lap.

Koichi didn't dare hiss to the other, but it was futile anyway. Kurama knew the cat. He knew the cat wouldn't escape the facility and join him on an expedition if it meant leaving his friend behind. Sure he roamed the halls, but never for more than an hour, two at the most when he was forced to stay away. Which meant…

He drew his gun and pointed it at the only logical hiding place. His other hand touched the emergency pistol inside his jacket.

Tommy moved onto the other seat, between the gun and the target. The first instinct for the said target was to slice both the gun and the hand holding it (though that second part would be a purely accidental consequence), but something about Tommy was stopping him. It was because of Tommy that he'd accepted there was something in that person that was different to others who gave the orders coldly or took them blindly. It wasn't Nana, nor the story of his wife and daughter, though they had served as evidence. Evidence he hadn't really needed; if Tommy trusted him, then that was enough for him because he trusted Tommy.

On top of that, he was scared. In the facility, he had no choice. Outside now, those vectors felt dirty, tainted, and the horns on his head even more so. It was almost like giving into Cherubimon's offer for power in exchange for his life-he shook his head, and a small bang echoed as the metal struck the enclosed space.

That was a problem too. He'd never be able to avoid the shot. Pointed straight at his head, there was no second chance if his missed, or failed to deflect it. What if he couldn't deflect it? Or what if it deflected it at something vital? Tommy, Kurama himself or some important part of the helicopter that kept it airborne?

Interestingly, Tommy had made no additional movement. Almost as if he knew no-one was going to act.

* * *

><p><span>Translations:<span>

Sono morta: I'm dead

Ha un cuore: He has a heart

Come?: How?

I vettori non sono abbastanza forti: The vectors are not strong enough

Forse ... le articolazioni: Maybe… (the) joints

Inconscio: unconscious

Lasciarlo: leave (it)

E 'quasi troppo facile: It's almost too easy

Remember, Koichi's not fluent in Italian even if he knows the words so I can get away with using the translator. I did know Italian, but that was back in lower primary school and I've forgotten quite a bit of it. Neither is Tommy so he pretty much understands what the other's saying.


	21. Escape

Author's Notes

The Elfen Lied bit is set soon after the OVA (that's what they're called, right?)

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 21<span>

Escape

Tommy purred once the stalemate stretched. He, unlike humans that weren't Diclonii, could see the vectors perfectly well…or lack thereof in that situation. He could also sense no murderous intent from the other, and it certainly didn't look like there would be a reason to use that gun any time soon. After all, they could pass from the helicopter as if they had never been there and no-one except the three of them would be any wiser.

Kurama looked at the cat, who stared back with that piercing gaze, then back at himself without even a skin cell out of place. He was partially frightened himself; he had seen his share of rampaging diclonii, but for some reason, from the very first instant he had lain eyes on the other, from the flinching when accused of murder (he still didn't quite understand that) to the generic mould he kept on breaking out of, there was just something about him…just like there had been something about Nana. Something reaching out to him like a standing pillar where everything else crumbled. Something about the orchid eyes, still retaining the ocean blue hue beneath the pink of the diclonii race. If he looked closely enough, he could discern the two; there was still slightly more blue after all.

'How about you come out and we'll have a nice chat?' Kurama suggested finally, throwing a little caution to the winds. Ultimately, he wasn't a bad person, and they were both caught in a catch-22. He couldn't possibly get into any more trouble anyway, what with Nana and all. 'Considering that I have gun with bullets your vectors can't block, and you are in a position to kill me, the pilot or bring the helicopter down into the water and drown us all and that either of us will no doubt act should the other give them a reason to.

Koichi took the hint, climbing onto the seat Tommy quickly vacated, the cat readjusting himself onto his lap.

'Now would you kindly explain why you flinched when we first met?'

It took a while for him to recall what the other was talking about, and even then, he was forced to carefully consider his answer.

'There was a time…' he began hesitantly. 'Where I had listened to someone I shouldn't have and fought against the people I should have instead been reaching out to. But even then, I didn't belong with people who called me their ally. One of them turned to me, begging me for help when my brother and his friends, before they became mine too, crushed him down. Not one part of me sought to help him; part of me saw him as a person who would immediately turn traitor to save his own skin or once he got what he wanted, and the other knew he was a threat to the people I loved. So I-' He hesitated a moment, shifting slightly and avoiding the other's eyes. 'I killed him.'

'A child?' the other sounded a tad suspicious.

'No, not a child.'

'Hmm…' Apparently, he had gotten more of the answer than the other had anticipated. 'There's quite a bit you've left out of the story.'

The two sets of human eyes met each other.

'So have you,' the other said quietly. 'It is unfair of you to demand more of me than you give yourself.'

'Indeed.' The man examined the boy a moment longer. 'You remind me of someone.' He didn't elaborate though. 'What do you want to know?'

Koichi took a deep breath, considering. Then he made his choice.

'Explain about your daughter and Nana.'

'My wife begged me not to kill her,' the other said slowly, wondering why it was so easy to explain to a boy he barely felt any connection to. There was something about him though, and his story, no matter how much he had obliterated from it; he was curious, both professionally and of his own interest, but in the situation they were now in, both of them would be in trouble if the truth came out, so it would be better for all of them to pretend it never happened. Though it did vaguely occur to him he was laying his heart at the feet of a person that could kill him in an eye's blink, he had already condemned himself once he took the life of the first diclonius child. 'She was sick, and it killed her begging me to spare Mariko. She died in my arms, and there I had been, standing right in front of Mariko's cradle, and then she just opened her eyes and smiled at me, and I just couldn't do it anymore. I made a deal with Director General Kakuzawa and he let her live, on the condition that two bombs were planted in her body to control her and she is kept totally isolated where very few people within the facility and no-one outside it know of her existence. One toe out of line for me, and he activates the bomb, and no matter how much I regret it, can't let her die for me. I'd sooner kill her myself. I was assigned to Nana around the same time, and she latched on to me immediately, calling me Papa. I couldn't break that.'

Tommy came and buttered against his hand gently, but not even a trace of a smile graced his face.

'Enough about that. Where are you from? And I want the whole story, because you don't match any record we have.'

It was a good thing he hadn't call him on that before. That would have been trouble.

'From Kakuzawa,' Koichi replied softly, staring at the wrist ornament that stubbornly kept its number at '018'. 'From another world.'

'Another world?' Surprise showed on his face; the first change of emotion.

Koichi nodded, before holding up the device. 'This is a prototype. Me and my friends are sort of human volunteers.'

'The four that were with you?'

Another nod.

'So that device lets you travel across worlds?'

'Sort of. It's a random setting, so it goes through 20 cycles: different places, different time durations and then take us back to our own world less than ten minutes to the time we departed. It was supposed to virtual, but-' He cut off with a wince as a small bullet of pain shot through his side. Tommy was by his side in an instant.

'Evidently not.' Kurama frowned. 'So you'll vanish from here as if you had never been.' That certainly simplified matters for him, but he still felt some compassion for the other. 'What about you?'

The boy looked down. 'I don't know.' There was a pause, then another wince as a bolt of psychic power shot through his skull. It was going to rain soon again. 'Not all the effects of the other world have vanished.'

'Your weather predicting?'

'Yes.' He didn't elaborate though.

Kurama looked at the black cat that had curled onto Koichi's lap again. 'And your cat? Is he a friend of yours from your world?'

He certainly had sharp eyes.

'Yes. Human who for some reason turned into a cat.'

'Meow,' Tommy agreed.

'Sir.' The pilot's voice came through the loudspeaker (the two sides were separated by a soundproof barrier). 'Landing now.'

At that moment they began to lose altitude.

Kurama looked at the diclonius who looked calm, mysterious but still somewhat fragile deep down. Even with a friend by his side and more out there, he seemed alone. Like him somewhat. That was who the boy reminded him of. A young version of him; the social outcast that got roped into hell.

'I never saw you,' he said as the helicopter touched down. 'Got it?'

* * *

><p>Kamakura was the same as he remembered in a general sense, but little things were different. For example, although the graveyard was as he remembered it, his grandmother's grave which he frequented wasn't there. He also noticed they had repaired all the damage done during the fight.<p>

And there was no sign that could tell him where the others were. Worse, his head was still spinning, calling him somewhere. But it was torn between betrayal and fear and wasn't a wholly attractive call.

'Where do we go now?' he asked aloud. He had nothing with him save the laboratory coat, with Tommy now riding in the pocket with the flap down to protect from the rain. The helmet protected him, though it made for an odd ornament. People gave him odd looks, but there weren't too many people in the graveyard to do so.

Tommy mewled in worry as the other's footing wavered. 'I'm okay,' Koichi breathed immediately. 'Just tired and…' He leaned against the altar, panting a little. After not moving for so long, his body was about to reach its limit.

And the rain didn't look like it was going to let up at all.

'Let's find somewhere less-' he cut off, seeing the coat almost soaked through. 'You're getting soaked!'

He took off his helmet, stuffing the suddenly protesting cat into it before turning it upside down and holding it close so the feline didn't fall out. A torrent of water suddenly fell onto his head as the protection was removed, and the veil that hid the thing that separated him, at that moment, from others. Physically at least. He had always been a bit of a social outcast.

They left the cemetery to the nearest natural shelter, somewhere where people wouldn't question his presence. A part of him just wanted to go home, but he knew the chances were that it either didn't exist or it was different. That wasn't what he wanted. He wanted _his_ house, like any lost scared child.

He liked watching the rain from the windowsill, but not so much being in it, because it normally brought with it a bout of fever that kept him down for at least a day. He was still somewhat surprised with the amount of people that were out and about on the streets, almost all of them carrying umbrellas. Some ignored him, in some sort of a hurry, probably to get home and to a more permanent shelter. There were others that stared at him though, in the coat already dirtied and stained and the horns defacing the picture of humanity…even when they didn't know the whole story. On top of that, it was unusual to be dressed like he was at all; older people normally wore lab coats and hardly through the streets, and that was normally accompanied by a suit and occasionally gloves.

'Probably a runaway,' a man muttered under his breath, inching slightly away. 'Or abandoned. Can't blame the parents either way.'

Tommy heard that and hissed inside the helmet, but the other didn't physically react at all.

'Freak,' someone else, a younger voice, muttered.

'Cute,' a girl trilled soon after, and the boy started, but the mother cast a look torn between fear and disgust and tugged away the fair hand, blonde curls flying behind her as a hand froze in stretching out to touch the horns.

Koichi stopped walking there, letting the water rain on him…at least until Tommy's scratching brought him out of his reverie.

Shelter wasn't too far away. Temporary shelter anyway.

* * *

><p>'Nana, would you mind walking Wanta for me?' Mayu blinked up at the short-haired diclonius. 'I've got a major test tomorrow, and-'<p>

Nana smiled, thrilled to be helpful and especially thrilled that it gave her a dual opportunity. 'I wouldn't mind at all,' she assured. 'Whereabouts.'

The brunette quickly outlined the route and Nana set off. After the week or so she spent at the Maple Inn, it was quickly becoming like home. Living in the same household as Lucy had been so strange at first, but she realised the previous day that Nyu and Lucy were really two different people, and the former was starting to grow on her. And even Lucy, who had cried tears in her fevered sleep that rainy afternoon that had just passed in the grip of some dream or nightmare, showed that she had, if only a sliver, some humanity within her. It was enough that she couldn't hand her over to the executioner but try and enjoy the same chance she had been given. To actually live out a normal life.

But that morning, she had felt the presence of another diclonius in the area. Thinking back, she realised she had detected the same presence the previous afternoon, but it simply had not dawned on her, not being quite as urgent as a waking Lucy. Now though alarm bells were ringing…but she felt no murderous attempt like the diclonii that had surrounded her in the facility, or the cold apathy quickly alternating with sadism that had been Lucy. What she felt was a mix of things, but it was mostly someone lost and sad.

She knew Papa told her not to get into any fights, but it didn't seem the other intended the same. In any case, they felt like they needed help, and just like Mayu had helped her, she should at least try and help her…or him. Maybe someone was looking for them. Or if she was wrong, at least this way no-one else would get involved. Diclonii didn't attack animals on a whim. Wanta would be safe.

Wanta pulled on the leash, dragging her along. He seemed familiar enough with the route, enough so that she didn't need to worry about trying to figure it out herself. Halfway they stopped at a water fountain to find a cat having fun under the stream of water and receiving quite a few odd looks from passer-bys. Wanta barked in joy and joined the cat, scaring the animal into the arms of a boy she hadn't noticed till that moment.

For a moment, orchid eyes met rose pink. Nana looked into the other's eyes, before diverting attention to the helmet that was on his head. One that looked familiar. A model from the facility.

'Are you here to kill me?' Nana asked, though she felt in her heart the boy wasn't. He certainly didn't look the part either; he had more of a runaway sort of appearance.

The boy shook his head, before staring again. Tommy left the water spray as Koichi let go of the tap, but Wanta pawed at the tap until the teen turned it on again. The girl in front of her looked familiar, but he couldn't quite remember-

It clicked suddenly. She was the girl in the black dress who had her limbs torn off. She was Kurama's Nana.

'You're…Nana?' he asked, stumbling slightly as his head swam a little.

She nodded, but before she or the other could say another word, Tommy gave a large mewl of joy and bounded off, Wanta following.

'Tommy/Wanta!' the two shouted at the same time, before another horde of voices shouted the same thing, this time in differing tones.

Yuka was smiling as the dog leapt on Nyu and covered her with slobbery kisses as the older pink haired woman laughed innocently. Zoe had been the one who had called Tommy; it seemed like the girls had gone out to do some shopping. But unlike her companions, she wasn't amused. She was more in shock, looking at the black cat in her arms, then at Koichi who had let go of the tap again.

'Koichi?'

'Zoe?' the other asked, a little hoarsely before he wavered again. The blonde gave a cry of alarm as the other lost his footing and fell to his knees, grabbing his arm before he slumped completely. Koichi, for his part, threw his free arm around her shoulders, holding her tight.

'You…won't believe how glad I am to see you.'

Zoe smiled through the happy tears that started. 'Not as glad I'll bet once we're all together.' The smile suddenly turned to alarm. 'You're bleeding-what the heck happened to you?'

'Long story…' the other mumbled, weight dropping onto her shoulder.

'Not to mention you're burning up…'

Yuka came up at that moment. 'Who is he?' she asked.

'This is Koichi,' the other explained. 'You know, the friend we were trying to find?'

She blinked. 'Weird coincidence…' she mused, before smiling. 'That's a relief. Let's get him back.'


	22. Horns

Author's Notes

A biology lesson. X-linked traits are traits linked to the X chromosome. For those of you who don't know, that's one of the sex chromosomes but it is not the sex determining one. The presence or absence of Y determines the trait. Males are generally XY (barring mutations) and females are XX. Recessive traits are traits that are masked by the dominant allele. In X linked situations, e.g the X-linked recessive, what happens is if a male carries the recessive trait on his one and only X chromosome, he'll pass on the allele but not the trait to his daughters. Females afflicted with the virus will pass on to all sons but not necessarily their daughters. X linked dominant however is different. If a male carries the trait, they'll pass it on to all their daughters but none of their sons. That makes me think this vector virus is X-linked dominant, but is only expressed once it passes through the germline. Therefore the virus impregnation alters the genome at the molecular level but remains unexpressed in the adult.

One more left for this cycle.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 22<span>

Horns

Koji held his brother's mostly limp form, fitfully sleeping off the fever he had somehow attracted. Yuka had patched up the wounds, namely the few where it looked like something small and round had punctured skin in his sides and the abrasions around his wrists, neck and ankles that implied he had been tightly restrained. A fist tightened as fingers of the other hand ghosted above the pale skin where the marks were slowly fading with the help of the healing balm smoothed over the abused skin (evidently he had given up the struggle at some stage and the marks had begun healing on their own). There were also needle punctures, and the brunette female had mopped them up with antiseptic. Those would take a little longer to fade, but they weren't overly noticeable.

Kohta had donated some of his clothes, but whether that had been of his own free will or if Yuka had twisted his ear, they didn't quite know. The clothes suited him, proving the previous assumption, but he hadn't exactly woken up to see himself. He had collapsed into Zoe's arms during their girl-only expedition (excluding Mayu who had been studying and Nana who had volunteered to walk Wanta); how they had managed to bump into each other was beyond him, but they did have a habit of meeting in unexpected places. The six of them certainly messed up the whole probability situation.

The down side was that they had no idea what had happened beyond what Nana had guessed. And it had taken some persuading for her to tell them as well; she hadn't trusted them any more than she had Nyu at first, but she seemed to be coming round. But she had still left out quite a bit so the information she had given didn't really tell much except they were using people like her…and Koichi, people with horns, as lab animals. What exactly they were doing, no-one could be sure. They claimed to be trying to eradicate the virus, but it seemed suspicious that they still hadn't succeeded.

And as for why Tommy was a cat, no-one had any clue whatsoever. At the moment, he was lapping up some milk…after JP bodily carried the cat away for lunch. Sooner or later he would be back for him.

But now that he had found his brother again, he couldn't let him go. Nor could Koichi, for even in a feverish sleep he was clutching his brother tight. He had latched on to him immediately that morning and the other accepted that without question. Of course, he did have to let go slightly to change the wash-cloth; the other had whimpered the first few times, but the fever was going down and he seemed to be getting closer to a proper sleep.

The emotional, irrational part of him was saying he'd never let go of his brother again. It was like a part of him had been taken away and then returned, something he could not live without, but the infuriatingly reasonable part of him rebuked that, telling it was impossible, that sooner or later he would have to let go.

He was a little surprised though when it was Takuya who walked in with a tray, not JP.

'Not going to drag me to the table?' Koji asked in surprise, propping his brother on his lap with one hand and accepting the tray with the other before placing it on the ground.

Takuya grinned. 'I think we'd need a crowbar to manage that,' he confessed, plopping down beside the twins. 'How's he going?'

'Better I think,' Koji replied, looking at his brother's flushed but otherwise pale face. 'How did this happen?'

Takuya looked down. Despite what anyone said, it still felt like his fault. If he hadn't been so damn _enthusiastic_ about the whole idea-Koichi had been reluctant, but it was true that something like this hadn't been the reason why.

'It doesn't matter if it's virtual or not,' the other continued. 'Physical injuries are one thing, but how is this going to affect him mentally? Whatever they did to him, it was torture Takuya!'

'I'm sorry.''

Koji looked up at that point. 'It's not your fault,' he muttered, before turning away.

'It's certainly more than it is yours,' the other rebuked. 'But how about we just blame who really should be blamed and leave it at that. I'm a little worried about Tommy as well; he was with Koichi the whole time and he certainly looks worried enough. Turned into a regular guard cat but more like he's keeping a silent vigil.'

'Yeah, I noticed that.' The younger twin picked up a scoop of rice and lifted it towards his mouth, but dropped it when the elder's eyelids fluttered open.

'Kou…ji..?' he whispered hoarsely before throwing his weight upon the other.

'Hey, don't get up yet!' Takuya exclaimed in alarm as Koji hugged his brother back, but all it really accomplished was himself getting caught up in the tangle. 'Hey! Aargh! Can't breathe.'

Koichi released him finally, but he still clung to his brother until the younger attempted to stroke his hair.

'Koichi?' Koji blinked, watching the other raise both hands to his horns and covering them, before they fell back onto his lap. 'They…I thought they were blown off?' He should know; he spent hours on end clutching one of them.

'Grew back,' the other mumbled, looking down and avoiding his brother's gaze.

Takuya grinned. 'They look cute on you,' he commented. 'Now if we got you a tail and some claws…' He paused. 'Maybe not the claws.' He made to move the bowl away, then noticed the chopsticks floating in mid-air. 'What the heck?'

The twins looked too, and the chopsticks clattered to the floor.

'Are one of you using Psychic or Confusion?' the brunette asked. 'I thought you were all back to normal.'

Koji shook his head, a little bewildered, before looking a little suspiciously at Koichi who shook his head a little later.

'Koichi?'

'It's not Confusion,' the other said quietly, lifting the chopsticks with a vector before letting them fall again. 'They called them vectors. Hand like extensions controlled mentally that can be sharp enough to cut through things, solid enough to grasp them or transparent enough to pass through them. The horns mark them. Losing one causes a mental gap that results in a coma. Losing both results in a permanent vegetative state.'

'Is supposed to more likely,' Takuya said, losing the smile before grinning and patting the other's back. 'You're living proof buddy. But what's with all the talk about murderers and viruses?'

'The vectors and horns are passed on from a male who is pierced by a vector to their female children as far as the scientists have been able to discover. Like an X-linked dominant trait.'

The brunette blinked. Biology went straight over his head.

'How did you wind up with it then?' Koji asked.

Koichi shrugged. 'Apparently I'm an exception.' He said that quite bitterly though so the pair took the hint and let it go. Sort of.

'That's neat though,' Takuya mused. 'It's like being an octopus.'

'Octopi have eight appendages and they're _supposed_ to have them,' the other snapped back, glaring slightly.

The brunette backed off immediately. 'Sorry,' he said immediately, but Koichi didn't pause in his rant.

'I'm just a freak, and _they're_ right. I'm a murderer.' He buried his face into his hands. 'It would be so _easy_-' He cut himself off abruptly.

'Did you?' Koji asked quietly, though he thought he already knew the answer from his brother's tone.

'No!' his brother burst out, trembling again. 'I-I tried so hard _not_ to…'

'And that means you're not a murderer,' the younger twin soothed, enveloping his brother into an embrace again. 'Okay, fine, if those vectors can cut through anything they can be used as a murder weapon. But they don't have to be. You caught the chopsticks I dropped. I'll bet you can do other stuff with them. But if they bother you that much, you can just not use them at all. And as for the horns…' he smiled a real smile. 'Takuya's right. You do look cute with them. I'd probably look like the devil.'

Takuya cracked up as Nyu suddenly appeared behind Koji, carrying a bowl of rice.

'You totally do,' he laughed as Nyu offered the bowl and Koichi jumped suddenly.

'_Lucy_?' That made no sense at all.

'Why does everyone call her that?' JP asked, following the female in with Tommy. 'She's Nyu.'

'Nyu,' Nyu agreed, running off again.

Koichi looked down.

'Hey, cheer up buddy,' Takuya wheedled. 'Being Espeon didn't bother you this much. If I didn't know better I'd say you enjoyed the switch.'

The other muttered something nonsensical.

'Look on the bright side,' he continued. 'Doing the chores, especially the cleaning, will be a breeze with the extra hands.'

Koji groaned at the pun, but Koichi managed to crack a smile. Even if it was a small one.

'Takuya,' Koji interrupted the other's mini-celebration. 'JP…Tommy. Do you guys mind leaving us for a few minutes?'

Takuya opened his mouth but JP beat him to the punch. 'Sure thing,' he said, grabbing cat with one hand and human with the other, promptly dragging them both out of the room.

'Okay, that was easier than I expected,' Koji blinked, before turning to his brother. 'Okay, what happened? And I want the truth.'

Koichi avoided his gaze. 'Testing, training…experimentation. Nothing much.'

That didn't even skin the surface and the younger twin flatly stated as much. 'Especially that last bit,' he added. 'Seriously? Nothing much? You were gone for a month and a half, give or take.'

'I was comatose for the month,' the other mumbled. 'So it was only the two weeks anyway. That's not a lot of time, compared to the others in the institute.' His voice dropped and he hugged his knees to his chest. 'To think they've spent almost their whole life in that place.'

'Personally I think that's better than spending a short while at an older age,' Koji said quietly. 'I know it sounds terrible, but to them, it's the only life they ever knew. You didn't have that luxury. That month and a half felt like years.' Koji turned away as well, and the two twins sat, neither really looking at the other. 'It was worse than when Lucemon scanned your data. At least there had been a reason. Despite everything else, I knew it was something you had accepted. But not this.' He scowled suddenly. 'This whole thing is suspicious. Okay, so it passes through the germ-line; how the hell did it pop up to begin with? That's no single-gene mutation.'

'They mentioned a Queen; they claim the structure is similar to a beehive.' The way he explained was rather monotonous though. 'The Queen was the initial perpetuator of the virus; all females born from pierced males were found to be sterile. They've tried to create a cure and recreate the virus through genetic engine-'

'That's it!' the other exploded suddenly. 'They're trying to control or eliminate the human race. _That_'s what all the unnecessary research is about.'

Koichi turned to him, about to say something before he reconsidered. 'You can't take the intention of one man and blame an entire institution. People are of different minds.'

'Just like you can't take an image conjured from fear and ignorance and accept it.'

There was a long pause, then…

'I think you won that one.'

'You're right. I am making a habit of that lately.'

Another silence, but this one was more warm as the twins shared a smile together.

'You're still you, you know,' Koji continued. 'I don't understand why this happened to you and not to one of us, but it won't change who you are. It can't.'

'It can show a part of me that hides away,' the other responded softly, leaning gently on the other and letting the arms circle around him. 'Don't feel you always have to protect me Koji. It's impossible to try in any case.'

'I don't,' the younger twin lied automatically. Well…more like denied. Apparently, the twins, even after two years, still had a lot to learn about themselves…and each other. And they weren't the only ones; there were four eavesdroppers hovering just outside the door in similar bouts.

Fate was picking apart another layer. And it was one that was going to challenge them all.


	23. Vengeance

Author's Notes

This takes place in episode 11 and the beginning of episode 12, up to the point where Lucy kills Shirakawa. And yes, it was Lucy who killed Shirakawa still. I didn't change that.

Aargh, the fighting scene sucks. I'm not too good at that. *Sigh…*

I'm going oversees soon, so I won't be able to update till next year. Good thing it's the end of the cycle then.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 23<span>

Vengeance

'I'm fine,' Koichi said, sounding exasperated once again as he tied off the stitch and cut the thread. 'There. Done.'

Yuka took the curtain from him with a word of thanks and went about replacing it. Zoe on the other hand gave her friend a sceptical look. Koichi was acting a little _too_ fine in her opinion. In fact, he was acting just like he normally would, getting up and ignoring the bed-rest order, helping out where he could and smiling in that gentle way of his, but she really had to wonder how someone who lied in most cases as badly as he did could say he was fine and smile and look like he meant it. It was like the one exception to the can't-lie rule…or maybe it wasn't, because it wasn't like they particularly believed him. It did make it quite a bit harder to pinpoint anything; there _were_ times in the past two years when it had in fact been paranoia speaking. And he actually wasn't particularly bad at lying; it was just that there were some people, all five of them included, that had a knack of being able to pick him up on it.

Zoe handed him the next curtain, helping him pin down the seam before he hemmed it with the help of the sewing machine. It was rather amusing, she realised, that with her high grades, Yuka had never managed to get the hang of sewing…and neither had she, though she couldn't say her academics were at the same level as the other. The boys had actually never tried sewing; the old cliché. Koichi however could manage very well, seeing as his mother was a seamstress and he had only watched the best in action growing up.

She smiled at that, watching the other's careful eyes as the curtain repaired itself. They had been lying around for quite a while, but damaged as they were, no-one had managed to get around to repairing and replacing them, as the only other person who could sew was in charge of helping with the cooking. She and JP could somewhat cook as well, but JP was a far better handyman and there were quite a few areas that needed repairs. Kohta confessed that they only used a small portion, and the entire inn had been out of business for years, so they hadn't really thought about fixing the rest of the place up.

There certainly was a lot of cleaning. It kept Takuya, Koji, Nana and Nyu pretty busy. On top of repairs, Kohta and Yuka had university (which they refrained from taking Nyu to again) and Mayu had school. They'd come clean with the real story after the fiasco at the university, and both patrons of the house had been understanding. The information wouldn't have really helped them at the time anyway, but they were more than happy to accept a few more freeloaders in exchange for chores. And the others were happy enough to help. It kept them busy.

'Done,' Koichi said a few minutes later, handing the last curtain back to Zoe who moved away to have it strung up. 'What's left?'

'The roof,' Yuka replied, arriving back.

The other rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. 'I'm afraid I'm no good there. I live on the ground floor of an apartment.'

'Maybe JP can do that. I'd worry about Kohta falling off with how he spaces out. Hmm…' She thought for a moment. 'I need to get some flour and soumen noodles and stuff for dinner and it's getting pretty late for lunch. We've all been so busy that I completely forgot to get lunch started. Can you cook?'

Koichi nodded. 'Anything in particular?'

'Whatever's in the cupboard.' She stopped suddenly, eyeing him. 'You can cook, right? Not like your brother or Takuya? I heard about their little story. Seriously, unshelled prawns?'

The elder twin grimaced slightly at the thought. 'No, I can cook.' He amended after a little thought: 'normal food.'

* * *

><p>He put down two bowls on the table and started back to pick up the rest, passing Mayu and Nana along the way who were feeding Wanta, but paused suddenly as he felt something in the air shift. At the same time Nana gave a small cry and looked up in horror.<p>

'What is it?' Mayu cried in alarm as Zoe paused in her return and came beside Koichi whose eyes had turned skyward, narrowing slightly but otherwise hiding their tale.

'Who's that?' Nana wavered, eyes wavering as they stared up into the sky, before whimpering and rushing inside to where the other pair were standing, unmoving.

'I think it's Mariko,' Koichi replied, his own voice shaking slightly.

Nana whimpered further. Evidently, she could sense Mariko far better than he could.

'She's come to kill me!' she quavered, before sensing something further, wrapping her arms around herself in utter petrifaction. 'Kill us! She's a Diclonius, and she's extremely malicious!'

She fell to her knees, and Mayu rested a hand on her shoulder. 'Ms Nana, please calm down.'

'Koichi?' Zoe asked at the same time. 'Does she mean-?'

'Yeah,' the other responded, biting his lip and clenching himself tightly. 'She knows exactly where we are.'

'She'll come for sure,' Nana added, trembling as Mayu petted her.

The four remained that way for a few minutes till Kohta walked in.

'Mayu, do you know where Yuka went?'

Mayu looked up and shook her head. 'No, she didn't tell me.'

Kohta scratched his head. 'She said she went out for soumen noodles, but she's taking a little too long.' Yuka was normally very punctual and diligent…except when she was mad at him.

'Soumen noodles?'

'That's Yuka's and my favourite food, so she wanted Nana to eat it too.'

Nana's eyes wavered at that. She knew the place had become her home, and the people her family. She couldn't bring the coming doom upon them. She looked up, meeting Koichi's eyes as he looked down, and between them the same understanding passed. Both had a family to keep safe, so even if they barely knew each other, together they moved towards the door.

'Koichi-' Zoe began, stretching out her arm, but the other interrupted her.

'Don't follow,' he said quietly, so Kohta wouldn't hear. 'You'll only be in the way.'

She retracted her reach as the two left. It reminded her so much of the Koichi after taking down Cherubimon's projection.

'No!' That was Mayu. 'Wait!'

Nana turned and smiled. 'Don't worry,' she said. 'I'll definitely be back to taste those noodles.'

Koichi turned on the door as well, smiling almost sadly at Zoe. 'Enjoy lunch,' he said softly.

Her eyes trembled. 'Stupid idiot.'

The grin widened, becoming almost teasing…and real she thought. 'I skip lunch a lot,' he pointed out. 'I'll be back in time for dinner, 'kay?'

She huffed. 'Fine.'

But when they left completely and Mayu clutched her hands to her chest, she knew she couldn't hold him to his word. He would try; she knew that. But Nana had looked so scared, and so had Koichi, though they had almost opposite ways of showing it.

No, not opposite, she realised. Koichi was feeling something else along with that fear. But he was wrong if he thought they'd be able to silently sit.

He was also wrong if he thought Koji wouldn't notice anything. And Tommy who was suddenly clawing at the door. And Kohta who decided to interrogate Mayu at that moment.

After so many times of not listening and winding up better not, it never really occurred to them that they would truly only be in the way this time.

* * *

><p>'They're coming this way.' Mariko, in her wheelchair, smirked slowly. 'Seems like this will be fun.'<p>

The smirk widened as she spotted the two figures in the distance, before turning to Shirakawa beside her. 'Hey, it's okay to kill those two, right?'

Nana took a deep breath, walking closely. Koichi stayed back, not entirely sure how long her vectors had been. They had been numerous and longer than usual, he remembered. And besides, Nana's vectors were longer than his so she stood a better chance at getting in a first strike.

Unfortunately, the young girl's vectors, when unfolded, were far longer than either of the two opponents had expected. Nana had barely taken a few steps before the vectors surrounded her body, making her unable to move at all while stretching to the other, just close enough to strike a fatal wound.

'Even this far away…' Nana breathed, before her clothes and prosthetic limbs were ripped from her body. Koichi immediately backed away and sent his own vectors but missed the vectors as they retreated and the girl collapsed.

Mariko laughed. 'This is fun,' she said with a grin, hair flying in the wind, looking at the collapsed girl as she picked her up with a couple of vectors, before turning to the other. 'Aren't you going to play?'

She lifted Nana into the air, and Koichi considered, eyeing the twenty six extended appendages before throwing a little caution to the winds and using his own to propel him over the side of the bridge.

Shirakawa blinked in surprise. 'Did he jump?'

Mariko however continued to smile, stretching her vectors over the side as well. 'That won't work,' she said calmly, before blinking in surprise as her vectors missed their target. 'What?'

A vector attempted to sneak up on her, but she knocked it away with her own. 'Oh, I see,' she smiled. 'I can't see you, but you can see me.' Her grin widened, before turning her attention slightly as Nana added her own vectors into the fray. 'This is fun,' she said, repeating her initial statement and stretching most of her vectors beneath and around the bridge, leaving four to hold Nana in the air, still too far to reach her.

'Just kill her,' someone ordered.

'Why? They're the only ones I'm allowed to kill, so I might as well have some fun.' She tossed the other girl to the side, before squeezing the bridge, knowing the other would be caught in the web no matter how well he could see.

And he was. He cried out in pain as his own vectors scrambled against hers as Nana shouted out while colliding with the frame.

'Come on,' the young girl pouted, releasing both holds. 'I want to play.'

Koichi pulled himself over the edge as Nana tried to reach for her vectors. The latter had blood on the side of her mouth and was still missing her limbs, while the former was clutching his unhealed side and coughing for breath. Honestly, it was only adrenaline and a little help from Nana that had kept him from falling into the water.

'Oh, you're done already?' She pouted. 'I'm bored now.'

* * *

><p>'He did WHAT?' Koji yelled, causing everyone in hearing vicinity to jump. 'Is he crazy?'<p>

'He doesn't want us to get hurt,' Zoe mumbled, before the other quickly stood and reached for his jacket. 'But-'

Kohta stood. 'They're both a part of this house,' he said firmly. 'I'm going to stop this.' He looked at Mayu. 'Watch the house while I'm gone.'

'I'm going too,' Takuya said immediately. 'We're all in this together.'

JP made as if he was going to protest, but held his tongue. What can we possibly do? He wondered, thinking back to his first days in the Digital World. Then he remembered the Wind Factory, and that Kokuwamon that had given him the courage to fight in his own way, even if he lacked a spirit. It was essentially the same situation now he realised, smiling slightly. It was about fighting for what was right, just like then. And that, in the current moment, was stopping some crazy girl from murdering one of his best friends and a perfectly nice girl they were just getting to know.

'Me too,' he added.

Nyu didn't say anything at the time, but followed.

'You're not coming,' Kohta yelled at her as Tommy led the way. 'Does he know where he's going?'

'Yeah,' Koji frowned as Nyu replied: 'I'm coming.'

'Not coming.'

'Coming.'

'Not coming.'

They kept it up till a gasp stopped them.

* * *

><p>Shirakawa noticed the newcomers first.<p>

'That's Lucy,' one armed man said, reading his gun, but Kurama's second in command stopped him.

'Wait. There are civilians.'

She matched right past the three Diclonii, much to the shock of everyone except Nana and Koichi who were elsewhere occupied. Mariko apparently found Nana more interesting as her reach was longer; Koichi's seven were occupied with keeping her ones away from his body and it was, at the moment, all he could do. He was only using six of his vectors, saving the last one to break through, but Mariko knew that and was watching him carefully.

The three ignored the newcomers…or they would have if Tommy didn't suddenly sprint past Shirakawa and Nana to launch itself into Koichi's arms. Mariko in surprise let her guard drop the tiniest bit, letting Koichi use his seventh vector to propel him into the air and break her hold.

'Ah, so it's not boring anymore,' she smiled, launching her vectors again. 'Do you still pity me?'

'This has nothing to do with that,' the other hissed breathlessly, before turning his attention quickly to Tommy. 'What are you _doing_ here?'

Mariko let Nana fall, and the girl lay limp where she had fallen.

'This cat is precious to you,' Mariko said softly, retracting her vectors completely.

The other eyed her in suspicion, but not even Espeon's ability to predict an opponent's moves could stop the vector that suddenly shot out and sliced through Tommy.

Blood splattered onto his shirt as the cat cried out in pain before falling limp.

'Tommy!' five voices shouted at once, and for perhaps the first time in his life, that horrible stench of blood was forgotten as he held the cat tight, trying to stop the bleeding. His hands continued to turn red though.

And he couldn't forget that stench. Not for more than a few seconds at most. That smell. That _colour_…it was spreading all over his hands and his vision. It was Tommy's, from that frail body that had thrown himself in harm's way for _him_…

The girl laughed. 'Maybe I'll have more fun now.'

The laughter abruptly stopped as her chair was knocked into several soldiers behind her.

'How?' she asked as Shirakawa turned. 'How could you reach that far?'

Koichi took a step forward but didn't answer. The orchid eyes had darkened to an almost violet hue, a mix of the dried blood red that had been Duskmon's eyes and the blue that was his own acclaimed colour. Two vectors reached out, over ten metres and pinning her to the ground. The rest easily deflected the ones she shot at him in retaliation.

'How can seven vectors beat twenty-six?' Shirakawa asked herself, before giving the order to fire to kill and then turning her attention back to the problem that was Lucy…err, Nyu.

The soldiers attempted to fire, but a long sweeping motion knocked them all down and the weapons from their hands. Invisible hands hovered over them a moment before the owner, caught in the cycle of blood, despair and rage, turned his attention back to his prey.

Mariko screamed as the vectors reached out and twisted, and Koji took a step forward.

'Koichi…' he said softly and in horror. His brother was angry; he could tell. He'd never seen him like this, but then no-one had ever dared to harm his friends like that in front of him. Most people knew better, and those who didn't were normally dealt with by either himself or Takuya before it escalated to such heights.

But now his brother was out for blood. And it was worse than Velgemon who had been blindly searching for prey. He knew exactly what he wanted. And that was to make her pay for every drop of blood that had been spilt. It wouldn't be enough to kill her; he almost wished he would. He would make her pay, then leave her, living, to suffer through.

It was frightening. And he knew Koichi would never be able to stand what he would do in a loss of control.

Mariko screamed again.

'Koichi!' Koji shouted, mustering up his voice and his heart. 'Stop this! Getting revenge isn't going to solve anything.'

The other didn't hear.

'You know you don't want to do this!'

He froze at that, turning slightly as his eyes widened, turning back to their orchid state. He heard the whimpers of the girl beneath her. He saw the look of horror in Nana's eyes as her vectors, unnoticed, had reached for him. He could sense his brother's fear.

Shirakawa's body was suddenly ripped apart. She had made the mistake of coming for Kohta and now she had paid the ultimate price. The two halves of the corpse thudded to the ground as Kohta turned to stare in horror at Lucy behind him and the others turned to their friend, blood splattering everywhere.

Several things happened at that moment. Mariko noted the distraction and grinned again, sending a vector to strike his forehead and hopefully pierce right through to the brain. Nana noted that, shouting a warning even as another vector knocked her off the bridge. Her own vector managed to reach the smaller female's horns, and the younger girl blinked in surprise as her vectors vanished. They had pierced, but how deep, she didn't know.

Koichi clutched his head, more specifically his horns, and screamed as Tommy vanished from his grip…though the two were inconsequential. It was a scream like Velgemon, full of pain and terror and uncontrollable emotion. Half was because his head suddenly exploded with pain, but the other was filled with images. Nightmares, truths, lies…he could differentiate nothing between them as blackness settled in a long sweeping motion.

He didn't even notice the world disappear. Nor did any of the others until they found themselves waking in a place they didn't recognise at all.


	24. South America

Author's Notes

I forgot about the cliffhanger, so just to make sure you all survived till next year, I posted up the next. Mostly a bit of explanation and an answer to whether Tommy lives or dies.

For those of you who might not recognise this, this is the Darker Than Black universe, five years before canon, ie. around the time just before the Heaven's Gate in South America disappeared.

Interesting note: September's birthstone is the sapphire, standing for clear thinking. September is actually an OC, but he fits into the Darker than Black episode as a part of the Secret Intelligence Service.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 24<span>

South America

'Tommy! Tommy! Are you okay? Answer us!'

Blurrily, he opened his eyes, seeing Zoe hovering above him. 'I-I'm fine,' he began to answer, before stuttering when he heard actual words, not the purring and snarls that had temporarily become his speech. It was odd to speak after the long time he had been unable to, between Abomansnow and the black cat that had become his body in turn. The blonde pulled away, relieved and wiping her hands off the blood, before quickly snapping back when the younger boy tried to sit up.

'No,' she said quickly. 'The cut on your stomach was kind of deep. It just stopped bleeding and you don't want to open it up again.'

Tommy obeyed and lay still, a little confused as two pairs of hands slowly scooped him up into a human chair.

'You okay buddy?' Takuya's voice asked, close to his ear.

'Yep,' he uttered, closing his eyes, feeling a little woozy. 'What 'appened?'

If he had his eyes open, he would have noted the three-way exchange of glances going on over his head. For himself, he just remembered something flying at him, then the sensation of flying away...and then nothing. He wondered if that had been a disadvantage of the cat form; the smaller animal had much less blood and therefore much less tolerance for loss thereof. The feline form had also supplied him with some heightened senses, and if he hadn't lost consciousness, no doubt he would have fled from the hold he had jumped in. It was just that animal instinct that hell was going to break lose. But he didn't know what had actually happened.

'What happened?' Takuya repeated, sounding rather reluctant.

'I can take it,' the young boy said faintly, still tired.

'No, no. It's not that,' the goggle-wearing brunette replied hurriedly, carefully picking him off the ground. 'Um, where's a good spot?'

Zoe turned to them, before looking around. 'There's a park,' she pointed, somewhat behind the group of three.

'Right.' The pair carefully turned around, making sure not to reopen the raw wound. Despite the care, the patient hissed slightly, feeling the raw skin stretch. 'Sorry buddy.'

'It's okay,' Tommy replied, but JP interrupted him.

'Oh oh.'

'What?' Zoe came around, before cursing under her breath. 'I think we need to get that stitched,' she said, pulling the blood-stained shirt off the slick skin and checking the makeshaft bandage. Tommy opened his eyes to see himself, but the view was blocked with the strip that looked like a part of Koji's shirt.

'How are we going to find the hospital?' Takuya asked, now sounding a little panicky.

'Takuya! Stop panicking!' The blonde yelled, quickly scanning the buildings for a sign.

'I can't stop panicking,' the other yelled back, and Tommy suddenly felt his form lift.

'It'll be easier if I carry him,' JP explained, easily cutting through the yelling. 'Leave Zoe to trying to read the English signs and you get back to Tommy's question.'

'Oh.' He had forgotten about that. 'Well, our device things went off again,' he explained, and Tommy opened his eyes to look at the strained face looking a little uselessly around (his English wasn't as good as Zoe's, or even on the twin's level). 'We're in...where are we?'

No-one answered. 'Okay, we don't know where we are,' Takuya amended. 'We're also not sure what happened on that bridge.'

'You're not?' Tommy's brow furrowed in slight confusion. 'Why not?'

'Two reasons.' Takuya looked away from them and towards the twins. Tommy followed his gaze, seeing Koji shaking his brother and trying to get a reaction. He had a little blood on him, and a part of his shirt was missing. He wasn't wearing his jacket; he had thrown it on his brother's shoulders, but one could still see the blood beneath it if they looked closely enough. There was blood on his face too, framing the blank blue eyes, and his horns still peaking out of his hair. He didn't move, didn't even blink as his brother repeatedly called to him.

'We couldn't see the vectors, what they hit or even if they hit anything,' Takuya continued, and Koichi's, well…' He looked at Koji, who turned towards them and shook his head. 'He's just…standing there.' His voice cracked at the end and betrayed the fear. 'This has seriously gotten messed up.'

'It's not your fault Takuya,' JP said. 'We all agreed, and no-one could have know something like _this_ was going to happen.'

'I can't see a hospital or a doctor's office around,' Zoe interrupted. 'Maybe we should stop at one of these shops and ask.'

'You'd better do the talking then,' the ex-warrior of thunder said. 'Our accents are kind of thick.'

The blonde nodded, before calling over to the twins. 'Takuya and I are going to ask around for a hospital.'

Koji raised a hand in acknowledgement and the pair walked towards the nearest open door. But they only got a few steps when Koji yelled at them to come back, followed by JP's slightly slower reaction. They ran back to find the younger twin gently shaking the elder. 'Koichi! Talk to me!'

'How would he know where to find the hospital?' JP asked, looking utterly confused. Tommy, who had drifted off in the brief pause, didn't react.

Takuya and Zoe looked at each other, before the brunette turned to the elder of the two twins, expression impassive and eyes mirroring as such, staring at nothing. 'You…know where the hospital is?'

Koichi repeated the directions in a monotone.

Koji stared at him. 'Are…you okay?' he asked hesitantly, as if unsure.

His brother didn't answer, staring blankly at something or other.

Takuya, JP and Zoe exchanged a three way glance, before the first shrugged. 'There's nothing for it,' Takuya sighed. 'We need a hospital.'

JP nodded and began walking down the street, and Zoe quickly caught up.

'Come on,' Takuya said, and Koji repeated, but the other didn't respond. His brother grabbed his hand and attempted to drag him a couple of steps, but the other fell as if he had been a wood standing there instead of a person. The other gave a cry of alarm and quickly caught the still form, struggling a little with the weight that had fallen on him.

The brunette rushed over to help, and together they set Koichi on his feet. Throughout it all his eyes hadn't changed at all, nor had anything else that couldn't be because of other forces. He simply stood: still, motionless.

The two best friends stared at each other, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted; voice frozen.

'We'll carry him,' Takuya finally managed to say, slinging an arm around his shoulder without resistance. Koji nodded and took the other, though his heart suddenly felt strangely cold.

Above them, the sun set. But the stars that appeared in the sky were unlike anything thef our humans conscious and aware had ever seen.

* * *

><p>'All done,' a nurse said cheerily, tying off the last stitch. 'The anaesthesia will wear off in a couple of hours.'<p>

Zoe smiled and thanked her, but collapsed in the plastic seat as soon as she left. A Doctor was shining a torch into Koichi's eyes, muttering to himself and taking notes.

In the end, he shook his head, frowning. 'Completely unresponsive,' he muttered. 'You can either have him reformatted or put down. Your choice.'

'What?' Koji's eyes went wide, before narrowing. 'What sort of Doctor are you?'

The "Doctor" gave him an odd look. 'What Syndicate are you from?' he asked abruptly.

'Syndicate?' Zoe asked, looking at Takuya who shrugged when she translated.

'No idea,' he muttered. 'Again.' That last part was a little bitter.

'And yet you have a Doll in your possession?' the "Doctor" was starting to look a little suspicious.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' the younger twin said icily and in English with a heavier accent to Zoe but still understandable. 'But are you going to help my brother or should we find a more competent Doctor?'

'Your brother,' the man mused. 'How long since this happened?' He waved a hand at the twin he had been examining.

'Not too long,' Zoe answered seeing as Koji was trying very hard not to blow up at the Doctor. 'We kinda lost consciousness, and when we woke up about fifteen minutes before we came here, he was like this. Got attacked before that.'

'And how responsive was he before that?'

'What to do you mean?' The blonde looked confused. 'The same as everyone I guess. He's always saying he's fine even when someone's bothering him.'

The man frowned further, looking at the boy whose observer spirit had led him to that very room. If what they said was correct, he couldn't possibly be a Doll like those who had somehow formed in the appearance of the Heaven's and Hell's Gate in South America and Japan respectively. And yet how else could one explain the observer spirit; he was sure he had seen it vanished into the boy's shadow.

And how was it that those four children knew nothing?

Of course, having four ignorant children wondering around with a broken Doll wasn't a very good idea. And there was the possibility he supposed, seeing as they had no idea about the Doll in their possession, that they might be Contractors too, though he had seen a flicker in the silent boy's eyes as he had spotted the observer spirit, but he hadn't seem to have recognised it.

It wasn't such an unfathomable idea that they weren't from this world, he mused. After all, there must be places where the real stars still shone, and there had to be some sort of explanation for the gates suddenly appearing and warping their world…and their lives.

'How different to five years ago?'

Koji's scowl deepened and Takuya put a hand on his shoulder.

'I don't know,' he muttered. 'We didn't meet each other till two years ago.'

The "Doctor" considered that, before Koji gave an unexpectedly startled exclamation. 'What is that?' he asked in Japanese, pointing at his brother.

There were three blank looks and one of comprehension. So only one of the four could see observer spirits, which meant only he was a Contractor.

'If you're so attached to this doll,' he sighed, part in monotone and part with an old feeling of love like that which he had shared with his own family before the change. 'Then we'll just have to reformat him.'

His blue eyes glowed red and a blue outline circulated his body as he reached out to touch the other's forehead, in the position of his third eye. The original intention had been to wipe the other's memories clean but sometimes it just took a moment of surprise to awaken a power one never knew they had.

'Don't touch him,' Koji gritted out as the other backed away, rubbing his eyes from the sudden light explosion. The other three had a little bit more warning, namely because the attack hadn't been aimed at them, and between that and Koji standing in front, they were relatively fine, if only a little shocked at seeing the same blue lining surrounding their friend.

Koji was equally shocked as the sudden red glint faded from his eyes. Koichi hadn't reacted at all, though Tommy mumbled slightly in unconscious complaint.

'If you suddenly feel like doing something, you might want to do it,' the "Doctor" muttered, straightening and brushing himself off, seeing the other still standing there. To the utter surprise of all but one of the onlookers, he continued to brush himself off for a whole minute before letting up. 'Remuneration,' he explained, seeing he really was dealing with amateurs. 'A payment for the power you attain in your contract.'

Koji regarded him, torn between suspicion and confusion, and then he sighed, blushed a little and tapping his foot. It was apparent he wasn't entirely thrilled by his remuneration, something the other chuckled at.

'You should be thankful. November's is smoking, and he hates those cigarettes.'

Koji scowled at him, ceasing his tapping. 'How about you give us a reasonable explanation. Starting with who you are.'

The man sighed. He was under no obligation to babysit a bunch of clueless kids and a dysfunctional doll, but M16 had sent him to investigate their sudden appearance. If he recalled, two stars had appeared. Of course, kids weren't exactly useful, but…

'My name is September,' he answered finally, looking at the Doll who hadn't reacted except for the observer spirits. 'As for the explanation…' He sighed again, before sitting down. 'Around five years ago, the true sky disappeared, being replaced by one with fake stars, each representing the life of a Contractor. At the same time the sky disappeared, two Gates materialised, making the areas immediately surrounding them largely unapproachable. These two gates, called Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate respectively, are located here in South America, and in Japan.

'Around the same time, three types of people emerged. Contractors are individuals who have gained supernatural powers due to the appearance of the two Gates. They are also set apart because of their need to perform remuneration upon using these powers, and are generally logical and pragmatic, essentially losing their humanity. They only do things that benefit them. Many syndicates use these beings as killing machines as they feel no remorse in committing murder.

'Dolls are emotionless mediums that mimic the form of humans. Some of them emerged due to the Gates, but it is possible to create them. Their behaviour and abilities only exist within their set programming. Some are made as perfect sleeper agents, but the most common use for them is using observer spirits and in storing information. They have individual mediums which they use as reconnaissance.

'The third type are called Moratoria. They are intermediates between Contractors and Dolls, having power but no control. Nothing else is really known about them at this stage.'

September stopped talking, giving Zoe the chance to repeat the entire explanation in Japanese.

'This has got to be an anime,' Takuya groaned. 'I get the feeling it's not a G rated one though.'

'Maybe not,' JP muttered. 'I'm not so sure we should be trusting this guy. Koji seems on edge and what the heck was he trying to do to Koichi?'

'Koichi didn't even react,' Zoe argued, in Japanese, before reconsidering. 'Of course, that's not really saying much right now. He did lead us here though.' She switched to English. 'Where's the nearest hospital or Doctor's surgery from that park?'

September raised an eyebrow at the odd question. Nonetheless, he answered. 'About two miles in the opposite direction.'


	25. Secret Intelligence Service

Author's Notes

Apparently, November 11 was paired up with Amber/February before the Heaven's War. During the first series however he was paired up with April. That means April had to be paired with someone else, so I'm making her September's partner for the time being. This does take place five years before the series after all.

As for September's appearance, blue eyes because sapphire is the birthstone of September, and forget-me-not is one of the flowers. The hair's purple because morning glory and aster are the other two flowers of September.

As for the location of Heaven's Gate, all I know is that it's in South America and that Great Britain and Argentina were a part of the war. By that logic, I assume the gate must be in one of those two areas, so I've dumped the Frontier gang in Argentina. Buenos Aires actually, seeing as that's the only place in Argentina I know of.

And since September can see memories, he doesn't need to ask why Koichi has horns poking out of his head or how Tommy wound up the way he did.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 25<span>

Secret Intelligence Service

Four surprised looks stared back.

'Really?' Takuya asked in English once Zoe translated. 'What?' He broke off, before switching to Japanese. 'What did he give directions here for then?'

September raised an eyebrow before turning back to the Doll. Koji was instantly back on high alert.

'Calm down wolf-boy,' the other chided. 'I'm just taking another look at him.'

A nurse had cleaned the blood off his face, but it still soaked his clothes under his brother's jacket. The boy was ignoring it though, still in the same position he had been left in.

'Tell me,' he said, almost conversationally. 'Where is April?'

Koichi didn't answer.

September looked at the others. Zoe muttered something to Koji who scowled, sighed, then repeated the question.

'Grand Bar Danzon,' Koichi replied in the same monotone he had used to give directions to the hospital, except this time in English. '1161 Libertad Street, Retiro.'

'Hmm, so she went for the elegant taste today.' The man didn't look entirely convinced though, taking a cell phone from his pocket and speed-dialling the first number on his list. He had a brief conversation, before hanging up. 'You were right,' he acknowledged with some surprise, brushing light purple bangs from his face.

The other didn't react.

'Koichi?' Koji asked.

The other turned his head slightly to stare the other blankly in the eyes, but otherwise said nothing.

'Koichi?' Takuya repeated. He got no response.

'Well?' the younger twin asked, looking at September.

He shrugged. 'Maybe he's programmed to listen to you and you only.'

'Stop talking about him like he isn't a human being,' the protective younger brother snapped.

September looked like he was going to comment to that, but decided against it. Instead, he decided to throw a little caution to the wind.

'How are six children going to pay the fund of a hospital bill?' he asked with some amusement.

Four of those six looked at each other. 'Umm…' Zoe mumbled. 'To be honest, we were more concerned about the blood than the bill, but I don't think we've got enough between us for a hospital bill.'

'We don't,' Koji muttered, who had a better round figure thanks to his birth-mother's line of work.

That was a problem.

'If you don't mind,' September interjected. 'I have a suggestion. It's obvious you kids will never survive out there on your own, and that light ability of yours can be quite useful, as well as the Doll…provided you're around,' he added, looking Koji in the eye. 'The SIS can handle the administrative issues if the two of you help us with something.'

'With what?' the younger twin asked suspiciously.

'We'll see,' the other said, a tad mysteriously. 'No doubt we'll need the extra help in the looming war.'

'War?' Koji repeated, before looking at his brother. He had been afraid of winding up in another war.

'Whether or not you want to be a part of a war, it is unavoidable,' the Caucasian said quietly, as if in understanding. Back before the sky changed, he had never imagined he'd be a part of one. He'd played with toy guns like any little kid, wearing a fake army hat and pretending to gun down monsters in the garden. But once he grew older, it became a more nightmarish concept as victims to his workplace showed the horrific consequences of war. 'If anyone finds out you are a Contractor, they will hunt you down and kill you. And make no mistake. With the technology Argentina's government, police and various Syndicates possess, someone will find you. And not everybody thinks light manipulation is valuable.'

Koji looked down, thinking deeply. The other had a point both ways. There were a lot of things one could do with light manipulation. His twin sabers as Lobomon had been made of pure light, as had the laser that followed through several digivolutions. Ophanimon's cage of light had been made of photon packets and had resisted most of their attempts to break it. The light had caused Lowemon's attacks to weaken and everyone's to deflect. It hadn't been the mirrors; their attacks had never made it that far.

And light had been his spirit. He understood its power better than most who would lead to underestimate it. Light had energy after all, therefore it had mass; Einstein's famous equation dictated that.

And it would be better; he might be able to defend himself…once he figured out how he pulled that flash stunt, but Tommy was injured, the other three pretty much defenceless against superhuman powers apparently, and Koichi…

He was still to so much as blink of his own violation.

Something occurred to him suddenly. 'You said Contractors only do things that benefit them. How is having us along going to benefit you?'

He had said that in almost flawless English, giving Zoe a break from the translation. After all, his own wasn't all that bad, relatively speaking. And the tone said everything else.

The other's face hardened by a miniscule amount. 'I had children once. Twins. One of them was a Contractor. They were both killed.'

Zoe gasped lightly, not translating when Takyua nudged her and requested as such.

'What did he say?' he whispered again, a little more persistently as it seemed the statement had shocked even the face usually stoic in the face of a stranger.

That had silenced the younger twin though. Twins were rather unusual; about six to nine births per 1000 were twins in the south Asian continents. They were only slightly more common in America. Ten or so he thought, but he couldn't really remember the statistics. Why he had looked them up in the first place, he didn't remember. Perhaps it had something to do with thinking about the unbelievable odds that had brought him and his brother together.

Of course there'd be a semi-empathic relationship between him and his brother, and the twins that were his children and now dead. Especially since the situation sounded markedly similar…judging from the little tidbit he had supplied.

He turned back to look at his friends. 'What do you guys think?' he asked quietly.

'It's your call,' JP said, after having a small eye-eye conversation with the other two. 'We'll go with whatever you decide.'

It wasn't just the situation. The entire atmosphere didn't seem particularly safe. And Koichi had to have some reason leading them to the hands of a person they didn't know they could trust…right? He trusted his brother's judgement, rational judgement that is, but not so much the instinct. It depended on the situation though; he felt this was one where he could go with his brother's apparently unorthodox method. How he knew, he still didn't really understand. But it didn't help him being worried. And this time he had a good reason to be…not like when Koichi had been away at camp for the first time.

'I guess we'll go with you,' he decided finally. 'But I don't want my friends-' He cut off, wondering how to say it.

'If they don't mind keeping my apartment liveable,' September shrugged. 'But I can't speak for the world. Not everyone is above involving innocents.'

'Why is it?' JP muttered in Japanese, but not exactly grumpily. 'That we always wind up doing the cleaning?'

Takuya cracked up at that. 'Mum will be happy.'

* * *

><p>Apparently, apartments in Argentina weren't too different from apartments in Tokyo, which helped with the culture shock. The only difference was that Koichi was the only one of them that actually lived in an apartment.<p>

This one was larger and more luxuriously furnished, but also far messier. Why there were two bedrooms, they all failed to understand, but it meant that they'd have to figure out how to coordinate themselves between the double bed and the couch in the living room. Apparently, September had never heard of a futon before.

Tommy could fit sideways on the bed, fully stretched out, but everyone else would have to curl. Still, JP figured the boys could all fit, leaving the couch to a surprised Zoe.

Not that she minded. It was just unheard of forcing a girl onto the couches while the boys got the bed. But it proved that Takuya had been telling the truth before. Her place on the team was no different simply because she was a girl. Of course, it would be awkward if they all squeezed into the bed, but all six of them wouldn't fit anyway. Five was a tight enough squeeze, but it didn't look like Koichi would be going to sleep. Koji had pushed him into the armchair and he was still sitting there.

Not to mention their parents would probably freak out. Camping out was one thing. Sleeping in was another.

Also, as JP pointed out again, Koji needed to be kept away from the couch at all costs, otherwise he wouldn't get a wink of sleep. Tommy was hurt and needed the comfort. Takuya was used to little injured kids, having a brother who was always getting cut or beaten up (sometimes because he had tried to follow in his elder brother's footsteps, not realising that that was what used to get _him_ into trouble), and the elder teen couldn't stretch out on the couch while the female could.

'You can't stretch out on the bed,' the blonde rebuked.

JP just shrugged. 'No sense cramming everyone. Besides, at the moment there's enough room for us to be comfortable. If I'm crammed on a couch, I'll probably fall off before half the night is done. You can stretch out, so you're less likely to fall.' He donned an embarrassed look. 'Anyway, if I did fall, I'd be louder.'

He was right, and Zoe couldn't help but smile in friendly affection. 'You're perfect the way you are macho-man,' she teased, before sobering up. 'I think that reason regarding Takuya is a bit of an excuse,' she said, but not with any real accusation. She had to admit that when it came to sleeping arrangements, dressing and that sort of thing, barriers between males and females had to be maintained. The incident with Ranamon and the Toucanmon distinctly came to mind.

'Not exactly,' JP whispered back, making sure that Tommy stood no chance of overhearing. 'He's worried about nightmares. Remember, Koichi had them for weeks after that incident in the hospital, what with almost dying and stuff. That kind of thing leaves a mark.'

'Though he'll probably do the exact same thing and hide it,' Zoe sighed. 'I understand. Takuya would be better at dealing with that on the spot.'

The older boy caught the underlining hint. 'Takuya's like his older brother. He might get embarrassed if it was one of us.'

Zoe noted he had included himself in the personal pronoun. So she gave up the conversation and looked around. 'Wow, and I thought the inn was bad.'

And it wasn't an understatement either.

'I've been busy,' September explained, a little uncaringly, tossing his coat somewhere before digging around for another one. 'By the way, if anyone calls, take it under the name of Lucas Whytt. I'll hopefully be back in an-'

'April's coming,' Koichi interrupted suddenly.

'Huh?' Seeing as the Doll had been right the last time, he took that to face value and waited. Sure enough, April arrived at his apartment ten minutes later.

She wasn't exactly what the others had expected, dark skinned with white hair and glasses she took off to reveal yellow eyes. She was also dressed in a pink coat which she made to take off before noting the teenagers and reconsidering.

'Why the change of plans?' September asked.

April gave the teenagers another glance, before answering. 'Extra orders.'

'As if we didn't have enough work already.'


	26. War

Author's Notes

This gets a little silly towards the middle.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 26<span>

War

Koji was rather shocked at the lack of trust between members of the MI-6, or the Secret Intelligence Service. April, while being a powerful Contractor in her own right, using atmospheric pressure manipulation, seemed more upfront than the male September whose own powers were more suited for infiltration. September for one hadn't revealed the full story, and all four conscious teens could tell he had gotten more than he had said from their conversation. But it was really what came after that lead to the real shock.

April looked especially interested in Koichi, examining the boy's unblinking face carefully. 'I didn't see an observer spirit,' she said in some surprise.

The other didn't react.

'Observer spirit?' Takuya asked curiously.

'The spirits that pass through mediums that Dolls use for reconnaissance,' September calmly explained, getting used to the truck-load of questions that came with the peppy brunette, though he seemed a little dispirited. What the group didn't realise was that, apart from erasing memories, he could also read them, though it had to be eye or skin-to-skin contact. Of course, he knew about their dilemmas, and while that did give the MI-6 a little extra push into investigating how Dolls were created (traumatic experiences was high up on the list and getting to become more of a possibility by the Doll), he didn't have any ideas. That was something the kids would have to sort out on their own. Then there were smaller problems; they were right in being worried about nightmares, but those would go away with time.

And why the heck was he worrying about them anyway? He wasn't a father. Not anymore anyway.

'I see it now,' April nodded, looking over at the boy's shadow.

September nodded too, and Koji eyed the blue thing that really didn't look like a spirit (in the sense that he imagined) and nodded as well. The others just looked blank.

'One Contractor, three normals,' April noted.

'And one I'm not sure about,' September added, pointing at the closed door. 'Injured.'

April looked towards the door, then nodded before turning back to the Doll. 'How did you know what I looked like?'

No reaction.

Koji patiently repeated the question, word for word. Which raised an eyebrow seeing as it didn't need to be translated and yet repeated all the same.

Koichi lifted a hand and pointed at September, before dropping it again.

'I didn't tell you what she looked like.' He didn't sound necessarily suspicious. Just…curious.

The other didn't explain further, but as the other thought a little more, he realised that in a metaphorical sense, shadows existed within one's mind as well. For a newly formed doll, he certainly had a good range and instinct. That made him wonder whether or not it had to do with the blackness of the other's mind which he had automatically assumed to be normal Doll-like behaviour.

But then, it wasn't the same sort of blackness.

'I see,' he amended. 'Shadows of a different kind.' That explained why he had chosen the hospital he worked at as opposed to the nearer Doctor's surgery.

April whispered something to him in an undertone, and he frowned.

'Does November 11 know?' he asked.

'He was the one who told me,' April replied. 'He would rather Decade doesn't catch wind because he's used to the pair.'

'Of course.' The other nodded. 'It is a headache to adjust to partners, and there's only that crackpot August 7 to spare.' There was a pause, and then he turned to Koji. 'Please tell your brother to keep an eye on the woman known as February.'

February. And August. He was starting to see the pattern.

* * *

><p>April folded her arms. It was unlike her to do such a thing, but then again, she was getting some benefit from it. Some training if nothing else, but so far only her physical combat was getting any practice.<p>

For an unexperienced kid though, he was giving her quite a challenge at hand-to-hand combats. On the Contractor powers…he hadn't quite managed anything at all.

'Are you trying?' she asked almost conversationally. 'I've half a mind to drag your brother-'

A flash lit up the sky.

'Good. Now consciously do that.'

She uncrossed her arms, took a sip from her beer, and stared at the teenager who was tapping his foot again, frowning in concentration. He muttered something under his breath, then succeeded in making another flash, then cursed.

'Fine tuning.'

'What do you think I'm trying to do!'

A sigh. 'How about visualising the outcome you're after? With practice it will come on instinct, but for know you have to consciously tell your mind what to do.'

The other sighed, swallowed his misplaced irritation, and tried to do as commanded, visualising the sabers he had used as Lobomon. Those were useful, and he already knew what they looked like.

Of course, April pointed out, he could simply carry around a knife and it would be far easier.

* * *

><p>'I can't believe I agreed to this,' Koji groaned, following Takuya and a relatively recovered Tommy into the library. 'And when do you,' staring at Takuya specifically, 'ever go to the library anyway…without Koichi dragging you.'<p>

'No worries,' the other said easily. 'That's where the internet comes in.'

They found a free computer and sat through the public terminal's slow internet connection. Takuya and Tommy were both used to it; they did it often enough. Koji on the other hand was _not_. He wasn't a fan of cartoons himself; the plots had seemed a little babyish.

As for video games, he generally went for the crime and martial arts stuff, much to his brother's amusement. Koichi didn't really play video games, even when Takuya and Koji got stuck into a round tournament and he was left as a spectator, and rarely watched stuff period, though he had fallen in love with Grave of the Fireflies and a few other animations. It wasn't because of lack of love to be sure; they just didn't own a DVD or VHS player and the libraries near him weren't quite as large as the ones nearer to the city.

'Got it,' Takuya declared finally as the file finished downloading, before looking at Tommy. 'Is this the one?'

Tommy nodded.

'You two are seriously going to try to teach me using animations.' Koji groaned. 'Forget they're fantasy?'

'What? It could still work.'

He groaned again, before blinking slightly. 'That's electricity, not light.'

All three watched Pikachu execute a counter shield. 'But electricity gives off light,' the youngest of their six-membered team pointed out. 'I don't get physics much, but isn't it possible to reverse that.'

Koji was okay at physics, but JP was better. 'I know you can get energy out of light. Laser might be good enough, but I've got no idea how it works. I guess we'd better ask JP.'

'Just write it down and ask later,' Takuya suggested. 'Othewise we'll have to come all the way back here. Now what else can we do with light apart from blind people and burn them?'

Tommy thought as well, and the third realised just how seriously they were taking helping him.

'You guys-' he began, but Takuya quickly interrupted.

'Don't bother.'

'Maybe we should check the physics books,' Tommy suggested after a moment of silence and useless searching.

The other brunette made a face. 'What gave you that idea?'

'The asking JP part.'

'I suppose it could work,' Koji sighed, thankful for a reason to abandon the computer. 'You two stick with the computer.'

They were both thankful for that arrangement.

* * *

><p>Koji was getting a little irritated once he set down the latest book. 'So I can attract insects. Big help.'<p>

Takuya laughed at that. 'They can be rather annoying in a swarm, but not so good in an attack,' he added, giving up the computer. 'There isn't much except lasers and counter-shields, and you already know lasers. Oh, and a light whip.'

The warrior of light flipped a new book onto some random page. 'Hey, this is useful.'

'What?' Takuya stared blankly at the ling explanation.

'Light pressure. It said here that it can cause asteroids to spin faster at sufficient energy.'

'Anything else?'

'Medical stuff. Good as an aftermath but not so good in actual fighting. All I can really use is lasers, flashes, counter-shields and light pressure. And getting a sufficient mass of light and chucking it.'

'That's quite a lot,' Tommy pointed out. 'You're good enough at thinking on your feet.'

'That's true.' He ran a hand through his braid, something he only did when he was exceedingly on edge. 'I guess I'm just overly paranoid.'

'Who can blame-' Takuya began, before snapping his fingers. 'Wait, there's something else. Shoot light through a mirror and you've got-'

'-fire,' Koji finished. 'But it'll be no-where near as strong enough.' A pause, then: 'trust you to come up with something like that.'

'It'll get rid of the insect problem though,' the brunette grinned.

* * *

><p>'I'm starting to get a headache,' Koji groaned, rubbing his temples and thankfully accepting the cup of water from Zoe. 'Thanks.'<p>

'No problem,' she replied, retaking her seat. 'Take a break for now,' she added. 'This might not wind up as bad as you're thinking.'

'But it could, and I want to be prepared for it.' Nonetheless, Koji lowered his head, resting it on his forearms. 'It almost feels like I'm stuck in a bad dream.'

The blonde regarded him carefully. 'Maybe it is a dream,' she offered. 'That all depends on how you distinguish between a dream and a reality.'

Blue eyes stared.

'What I mean,' she made to clarify. 'Is that back in our world, the world that we define as real, little if any time is going to pass. The guinea pigs seriously can't mess that one up.'

She brought up a valid point.

'So where we exist, on that plane, anything outside it doesn't necessarily classify as real,' Zoe continued to explain. 'Just like our dreams can have a realistic feel and yet not be real? You get what I'm saying.'

'Yeah Zoe, but that doesn't matter, does it? It's real enough.'

'So what?' she asked. 'How does that change the bad dream part? Point is, in dreams…' She trailed off expectantly, before sighing. 'Aren't you supposed to be the optimist? Aargh, you're both pessimists.' She sighed again. 'Don't you know? You control your own dreams, whether consciously or subconsciously. So if this is a bad dream of yours, just make it better.'

Koji looked at her. 'You make it sound so easy,' he said, before smiling. 'Or maybe I'm making it difficult.'

'I'll agree with the "you making it difficult" part,' Zoe nodded. 'Why'd Takuya volunteer to study anyway?'

'So I wouldn't go crazy with impatience,' the ex-warrior of light replied, raising his head properly. 'I wonder how much physics JP's managed to teach him.'

The blonde giggled at that.

'By the way, what's Koichi doing?'

'Oh!' Zoe exclaimed, standing up so fast she accidently knocked the chair over. 'I completely forgot. He wasn't really doing anything before; I give him food, nothing. I even tried feeding him. I tried telling him to go to sleep, even a lullaby. I shoved him into the bathroom…actually, I don't know whether that one worked or not. I hope it did. I gave him books, no dice. Turned on the TV, nothing. So I gave him some blank paper and pencils and after a while, he started drawing.'

'He what?' It took a few seconds for that to click, along with the other's triumphant expression.

'He started drawing,' Zoe repeated disappearing from sight before returning with a few papers. 'See?'

Koji took them. They were drawings of the six of them, and September and April. He didn't recognise the settings around the two Contractors, but he recognised the apartment they were in, and the library they had been in before. There were also several, some half finished, that depicted as their prime subject a woman who looked to just be blossoming into adulthood. One showed her with other people. The rest, on her own.

'Who's that?' he asked.

Zoe shrugged. 'Don't know,' she admitted. 'But I think it might be February.'

Koji looked carefully at the woman beside the one that kept reappearing. 'One of them at least is not a member of the MI-6,' he said, tapping the image gently. 'February and April are the only two females, unless there's something someone hasn't said.'

'It might be to do with her alias or her friends or something,' Zoe suggested, before it suddenly dawned on her. 'Unless you think she's double-crossing them.'

'I think that's what _they_ suspect,' the other replied, frowning over the image. 'But September didn't tell April everything, and I doubt April has told everything she knows or suspects to September either, nor does she think much of August 7. And if November 11 doesn't trust February and Februrary might be double-crossing them, that's not much of a team at all.'

'Maybe that's what happens in a war,' the blonde said quietly. 'Friends lose sight of friends. Innocent blood is spilt. Trust is shattered. Hearts are hardened. The question is, how are you going to deal with all of it? Which side is right in the end?' She paused for a moment. 'Just because we're here, it doesn't mean we're on the right side.'

'Right, don't rush to conclusions.'

He looked at the drawing of the two women again. 'I'm almost tempted to go talk to her.'

'Tell me you're kidding.'

'I'm not.' Koji frowned slightly in thought. 'But I just wonder whether it's worth the risk.'


	27. Contract

Author's Notes

Hei seems to go by different alias depending on where he is. In the first season he went by Li Shungshen, but he also had the alias Li Henshik. So I gave him a new one for the Heaven's War: Li Cheng. And I gave Bai one as well: Li Xiulan. Xiulan means beautiful orchid. Now, Chinese write their names the same way Japanese do, but since I'm using the dub, that means I have to switch them around. Li is their surname, so in English it comes last. Japanese and Chinese both put it first.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 27<span>

Contract

Getting acquainted with the city of Buenos Aires wasn't the hardest thing he had done, nor was it the most infuriating, but the simple reason as to why it was necessary more than made up for the gap in function. He was luckily better versed in maps than some people, but that only showed the surface so he found that even with the pieces of paper in hands and a little exchanged currency (good thing the exchange rate was better than what had been in their world, enough so to make it profitable), he was still essentially wondering around blindly.

Of course, that wasn't anything new seeing as they had done quite a bit of that in the Digital World. Only they had spent that time looking for a way home, not for a truth that didn't directly concern them.

He had considered several times just dropping the whole matter or else informing September, or April who occasionally frequented the apartment. She seemed to be rather disapproving, both of them and her own partner. At least she had acknowledged his skill in hand to hand combat was "adequate" but she had turned her nose on his grasp of his newly found Contractor powers; apparently too much thought and not enough instinct. He also found that his "counter-shield" as Takuya and Tommy insisted he called it, could hold up for too long. It kept a water bubble from drowning him, but it couldn't quite stop a more ferocious typhoon. She saw it as reluctance and she calmly stated that such attitude would get him killed.

He noted the omission. And while he didn't agree, he kept his silence. Maybe Zoe was right. Maybe the war they had gone through was just the tip of the iceberg. In that case, he had to agree with Koichi in wanting no part of it.

But whoever said that war often dragged in people like a vacuum, uncaring of their wishes, age, experience…or anything for that matter, were absolutely right. He hadn't exactly been keen on the idea of winding up in a war; to be honest, it hadn't occurred to him before Koichi mentioned it. It was funny, he noted. _He_ was usually the paranoid one, but his brother had seemed a little on edge when they had been in the Yu-Gi-Oh verse, as Takuya put it. Why though? He didn't know but he could hazard a guess. A couple actually. Something, or a few things, had unsettled him. Perhaps he hadn't given them much fruit as Espeon, or perhaps that little metamorphosis had served to work against the assumption.

Then again, not everything happened the way one wanted it.

He turned a corner, before finally finding a place he recognised. Hopefully, that would be enough. As it was, he was surprised he could commit what he already had to his mental map.

He didn't look particularly out of place, leaning against a post in casual clothing and waiting for a girl to come out of the school's entrance. Only, unlike the others who were either looking for a girlfriend of a quick one-time or an easy target to beat up, he was…well, to be honest with himself, he didn't really know what he was after.

At the moment though, he was going to tiptoe around that issue.

The brown haired female exited the school, black book bag clutched in both hands. He watched with an air of disinterest as she crossed the road and met up with a student from another school; senior high by the looks of him. Both of them looked Chinese, a little apart from the Caucasians surrounding them. Perhaps that was what made both of them look towards him as well; he certainly hoped it was, and not suspicion though he didn't think he had given any cause of such. Of course, with Intel and a war on the horizon, one never knew.

The girl smiled at him, though it didn't quite reach her eyes, and said something. The accent sounded extremely similar to the Japanese dialect to the westerners milling around, but Koji, being Japanese, could well distinguish between his native tongue and a foreign language. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Koichi hadn't ever gotten it into his head to try and learn a strain of Chinese; it was a rather difficult language. He had flown off with Zoe's Italian (not literally of course) and English from school, and had tried to further teach himself Italian from books. It had worked…mostly. He couldn't exactly speak fluently like a native speaker but he could write and read in it and mostly talk., which was really more than the rest could do. In a rush though he'd just throw words together…which would make sense, both to them and to Zoe the native speaker. One could question the point, but Koichi liked learning and applying new things, especially languages, just like he liked drawing and writing stories. He just happened to like drawing and writing more.

The smile faded in a little confusion as she cocked her head. She tried again, this time in definite Japanese with only the slightest accent.

'I'm visiting a friend,' Koji lied to the question. Luckily it was March, meaning school holidays were in progress over in Japan so the lie was at least somewhat believable. 'She's busy at the moment so I thought I'd explore the city.'

'And take a breather and watch the girls?' the older boy added wryly and in the same accent as the woman, raising an eyebrow.

Koji shrugged nonchalantly, though that wasn't particularly true. It was however a point worth noting that teenagers did sometimes oogle at girls (or guys). Luckily he lied far better than his brother.

'Are you Chinese?' he asked, deciding to stir the topic away from its awkward heading in any case. It was especially harder to come up with things on the spot in such circumstances.

'Yes. We come from Shanghai,' the boy replied, before bowing as the custom. 'Cheng Li, and this is my younger sister, Xiulan Li.'

The girl bowed too, as did Koji in reply. He figured it couldn't hurt to give his real name, seeing as he technically didn't exist in that world. He'd already searched, and Tommy had mentioned it as well.

'I'm Koji Minamoto.'

'From Japan?' the girl asked, though it was redundant seeing as they were all speaking in Japanese.

'Yes, Tokyo.' Stay away from too many specifics. People could dig themselves into a hole.

They left him after a little while and he stayed a tad longer before wandering off. He had spotted the observer spirit popping up in various shadows but had paid it no heed; September had told him that only Contractors (and other Dolls) could see Doll spirits, but having Koichi following him around was both comforting and comfortable. In any case, it wasn't enough to faze him; the presence more than made up for the situation.

He noticed the boy hadn't reacted, but the girl had blinked slightly before ignoring it. So his guess was proven partially right; that girl was a Contractor

He shoved a hand in his pocket as the sky suddenly darkened, before changing direction ever so slightly.

* * *

><p>'There's a Doll spirit following us,' Bai whispered to her brother as they walked towards the arcade.<p>

'Are you sure it's following _us_?' Hei whispered back, resisting the reflexive urge to twist around and look, seeing as he couldn't see observer spirits anyway, not being a Contractor and it would be a markedly suspicious action.

'Not exactly.' the brunette frowned, slipping out of the crowd. 'But I think I've seen it following us before.'

'Trouble?'

'Maybe…' She bit lightly on her thumb. 'I'll see you later, okay?'

Hei glanced at his sister. 'Where are you going?'

'Around,' the other said vaguely, before taking her leave before her brother tried to stop him. If only he would stay out of this war…but she knew her brother would never do that, for her if nothing else.

'Ba-Xiulan!'

She ignored him almost coldly.

* * *

><p>'Hey, Zoe?'<p>

Zoe looked up from where she had been staring between drawings and the person mechanically drawing them. If there was one thing Koichi was brilliant at, it was drawing. They had joked a few years ago that he should become a manga artist…or an animator…but the boy had taken the suggestion to heart apparently. He certainly stared at the animation school long enough, and eventually gone up and asked for the application details. Actually, she remembered, they were probably still in his bag, along with the starts of a portfolio.

She was trying to keep hyped and peppy, even though that was more Takuya's department. He was busy handling Koji and Tommy though, and she was good enough at the job, especially when Takuya _wasn't_ the target. It was still sad and uncomfortable seeing Koji so strained, Tommy guilty (she thought that wouldn't go away unless he and Koichi had a heart to heart talk) and Koichi not particularly doing anything except drawing scenes that he saw…once it had occurred to her to ask. Truth be told, she had almost fallen off her chair when he had nodded, but the shock was overshadowed by a sense of accomplishment.

Not for the first time, she wished they were anywhere but the world they were in now. Things were bad enough, but the Doll situation and the looming war was like adding fuel to the fire. Not to mention the war had everyone paranoid. JP had needed to literally drag Koji out of the house before he had abandoned the other and went off to do some much needed shopping. Which was nice of him, because there was only so many times she would do the shopping before it became frustrating beyond belief.

And now he was back, laden with more bags he could carry.

'Some help?' he asked sheepishly and the blonde had to swallow a laugh and help him.

'I made lunch,' she added, pointing at the oven…even though it was a little late for lunch. 'Pizza?'

'Extra pepperoni?'

'There wasn't any.'

'Good.' He grimaced at the mere thought as he put the last of the things away and pulled out six plates out of habit, before replacing three, then another and pulling a bowl out instead. When Koji had tried to convince his brother to eat bread for the first time in that particular cycle, he had been rewarded with a blank look and it had taken another examination and explanation from September to inform that new Dolls forget their past lives, and that included most of the little bits of knowledge that made living easier. In fact, most could do nothing except what they had been "programmed". Thing was, they didn't know about the programming.

Unfortunately, Koji wasn't exactly patient and he had no idea how to go about that issue. Unsurprisingly, it was Tommy who suggested broth; drinking was easier and more reflexive than the more complex actions of eating. While it would have been awkward in any other situation, it was anything but. It was going to be a lot worse once his memories came back, and it was hard enough watching without truly being a part of anything. At least there were two of them.

JP offered a plate to Zoe who took it with a smile of thanks, and the two claimed the dining table, away from the Doll still mechanically drawing a junior high school girl, a subject that he had already drawn a few times before.

It was also weird just looking at him. His eyes hadn't returned to their usual blue; they were still an orchid colour, though slightly darker. If they hadn't seen him, the him they were used to, smiling and laughing and teasing and helping all the while hiding his own worries, they could have easily believed it was someone else trying to do a rather bad imitation.

'Hey, do you want to see a movie?' JP asked, out of the blue.

Zoe stared at him. 'Are you asking me out on a date?' she asked incredulously. '_Now?'_

The other flushed. 'No, no.' He waved his hands. 'It's just that…you've been cooped up in here, and there's a free screening in the park in half an hour, and I thought you could use some fresh air. I've got directions, see?' He waved a paper.

The blonde blinked at a map. 'You don't want to go?'

'And see a sappy romance fic?'

'Hey, you like sappy romance fics too.'

JP shrugged. 'You need some time out of the house. You're not a married housewife for God's sake.'

Then he blushed brighter than a rose as the girl threw her arms around him in thanks.

* * *

><p>It was only fifteen minutes before the Doll Observer began leaving. Knowing it as a sign to follow, Koji obeyed, snaking through the crowd before he came to a crowded karaoke bar.<p>

He immediately grimaced at the noise, before looking around discreetly.

'Want a drink?' a waitress popped up at his elbow.

Selling alcohol to minors?

'No thanks,' Koji replied curtly, before looking in feigned interest at the singing teens. There were karaoke bars in Japan, but he'd never set foot in one before. Neither had Koichi or Takuya, as surprising as the latter was. Actually, none of them had. It was too loud and wild for all of them. But he had to admit it was a good time not to be overheard.

It took over fifteen minutes to spot a blonde that had a striking likeness to the drawings stacked neatly and in Zoe's temporary keeping. And she was talking to the brunette that he had met up with by the time, along with a few more people only recognised by a single drawing at the most and one that wasn't even that.

Unfortunately, there was no way of getting close without raising suspicion. Even more unfortunately, they weren't the only ones keeping an eye on them.

Perhaps the only fortunately part was that he couldn't see very well what was going on. The only thing he did see clearly was a man grabbing a young girl's wrist threateningly, eyes starting to glow with a barest tinge. The poor girl looked frightened out of her wits.

The sight made his blood boil. So he did the instinctive thing and threw the guy with as much photon energy as he could muster. Luckily, the rational part of his mind was working well enough to tell him to downplay the blast, enough to not blind himself and everyone in vicinity and not to attract too much attention to himself. Of course, the red glowing eyes and the blue aura were enough of a giveaway.

What he couldn't for the life of him understand was how the blonde and her companions completely vanished, a police officer's gun suddenly found itself empty, and a few guys (one he had blasted himself) all tussled up.

He didn't understand it until he remembered what April had said about February's ability. Chronos manipulation. She, the blonde, had frozen time.

* * *

><p>JP dropped the book he had been reading in shock as he heard a slightly pained gasp. He'd gotten used to the quiet, so he'd told himself repeatedly to be prepared at the slightest noise; the war business had gotten him seriously paranoid. Zoe had left about half an hour ago and it would take her another two before she got back. September was at work; late night. He wasn't sure about Takuya, Tommy or Koji but he was fairly certain Koichi was keeping an eye on them.<p>

And he hadn't heard the door open, which meant it was Koichi.

He quickly darted into the living room, where his friend had been blankly drawing, the same way he had passed the last few days. Only now-

The elder brunette barely caught the younger boy as he slumped forward, hands automatically coming up to grip his hair…directly above the horns.

JP shook him gently. 'Koichi! Koichi, what's wrong?'

The blank eyes fluttered up slightly to look at the brunette, before brightening ever so slightly in recognition. Before either of them could act on it however, the other's eyes rolled back and he toppled completely onto the other, hands falling away from his head.

JP stared at the other's face, at the eyes closed in complete unconsciousness and the slightly strained expression. Now that he looked closely, it almost appeared like it had been worn before, but not the glove-fitting sort of expression. There were only two things he could come up with, but he thought the second would be more likely. Either it was a pre-Digital World thing, or it was the expression that had transited the defeat of Velgemon and the twins' first _sane_ meeting. The one that had hung between the extensive brainwashing and psychological implications and having that suddenly overloading as though someone had flicked on a switch.

Then he scooped the boy up, struggling slightly under the weight before adjusting into a more comfortable position, and carried him off to the empty bed.

Then whipped around to find Tommy and Takuya silently at the door.

'Door was unlocked,' the latter said sheepishly.

He couldn't _believe_ Zoe had forgotten to lock it. Or maybe she had thought he would do it. Or it wouldn't be necessary since there were people still in the apartment.

But still, it could have saved him a heart attack.


	28. Doll Medium

Author's Notes

Stuff happen behind the scenes with the Heaven's War, but I won't go into detail with it because this is about the Frontier characters, not the Darker Than Black characters.

I originally intended to have this in two chapters but by the middle I realised it was easier to throw them into one and lengthen it a little, mostly because otherwise I'd have to go into backstories of characters that aren't a part of Frontier and thus not the main focus. Maybe one day I'll write up what I think happened during the Heaven's War, but if I ever get around to it, it'll be in the Darker than Black section of the ffn archive and not a part of this story.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 28<span>

Doll Medium

'So he fell asleep?' Koji repeated, biting his lip in very un-Koji like behaviour. He couldn't help it though; he was in several pieces and he hated not being able to protect his brother from the world, especially in the circumstances where he couldn't protect himself.

'Well, more like passed out,' JP explained. 'But as long as he's resting, right?'

'Yeah, I guess.' The younger twin sighed, slumping into the armchair his brother had been in.

'Koji?'

'What?' the other snapped back, before wincing slightly at his own tone.

JP sighed, before folding his arms. 'Go to bed.'

'I can't, I-'

Annoyed at the reluctance, he literally picked the other up and carried him off, much to Tommy's shock who just walked in with the burgers he had helped Zoe make.

'Umm…JP?'

'I'll be right back,' he yelled over Koji's protests, before redirecting his attention. 'Shut up and get some sleep before you faint too.'

'I have been sleeping,' the other grumbled, folding his arms when the other unceremoniously dumped him on the bed.

'Don't insult my intelligence. I sleep right next to you…well, when I am sleeping.' The brunette stared down like a grumpy father who's child has been sick with long fevers and strained the parents to his last nerve. He felt the part too, staring done at Koji, sending Zoe to get some 'alone time'. Watching over Koichi. The entire thought cracked him up.

'What?' Koji was getting even more annoyed.

'Just thinking about our happy family.' He grinned suddenly before readapting the stern look. 'Look, I know you're going out of your mind, but you really need some rest. Now get to sleep, and I mean proper sleep, or I'll steal September's store of tranquilisers and shoot you with them.'

Koji didn't think he had it in him at that moment to argue. But it was still strange hearing JP say all that. Or maybe he didn't know his friend that well.

That thought made him ache slightly. It wasn't right.

* * *

><p>He hadn't realised he'd fallen asleep until he woke up again with Tommy tucked into the crook of one arm, Koichi in the other, and Zoe grinning with her phone in hand.<p>

'Cute picture,' she said before fleeing with a bit of a giggle.

'Oh, you are so going to print that out and frame it,' Takuya commented, looking at the cute image.

'Hey.' Zoe looked at him. 'Show me the ones from the Pokémon world.'

He did so, and the pair cooed over some more cuteness, for once at ease in the small peace, then dragged Tommy in once he warmed his way out of Koji's hold, waking up only a couple of minutes after the younger twin.

* * *

><p>He thought Tommy would shoot off the minute he was awake, but he stayed and talked awhile first…even though the blanket was almost picked apart as both borrowed one of Koichi's nervous habits: the same one, fiddling with his hands and fiddling with whatever he could get his hands on.<p>

After the younger boy left, feeling better once both had dumped their nightmares and worries on each other (Koji couldn't help but think JP planned the entire incident but that didn't seem rationally plausible), Koji stayed where he was. Now that he had managed to get some decent sleep and was thinking more rationally (alerting him to the fact that an apology was in order), he found he was too comfortable to budge from his position…much. He adjusted his brother's still sleeping form until the slightly elder twin's head was rested on his head, then leaned back onto the headrest. In that position, he found he could almost stop thinking about all the problems they had faced, and think instead of the happier and more amusing moments. Like all of Espeon's little cute moments, the horns that did admittedly suit with a cat's tail and some claws as Takuya had said. Then there was all the parenting, that duel between the two Horus' decks, Tommy beating Zoe then Zoe beating the lady who beat JP and yelling at him for the doubts. And yes, that annoying girl that had kept begging him for a duel. And Gallade, the nightwatchman. Admittedly someone had hit the nail on the head there. Tommy had been cute too, but JP…he was more of a scary kind of amusing.

Not to mention playing housemaid at the Maple Inn. Who'd have thought he'd spend more than a month cleaning of all things. Well, it wasn't like he could cook…not that Yuka hadn't tried to teach him and Takuya. She had eventually given it up as a lost cause. And watching Kohta's klutziness had been pretty funny too, especially when paralleled to Koichi's clumsiness (though he wasn't _that_ bad).

Yep, he'd definitely been focusing too much on the facility. Not that he could help it. Nor could anyone expect him too. But no-one would be able to move on if they kept dragging out the past. Maybe though he was overestimating the whole situation; Tommy hadn't exactly stuck around past the bullet incident, and all the hurt he had had been a couple of puncture wounds and abrasions from being restrained. It was the restraints that hurt him the most, he knew that. But like all nightmares it would fade the longer he stayed in the sun. If they could find the sun.

He had power and strength enough, but already he had failed to save his brother on numerous occasions. Perhaps Koichi was right; it was an impossible task. That didn't mean he'd ever stop trying. No-one would get hurt on his watch, and he had a feeling everyone felt pretty much the same way. No doubt, with things are going, everyone was going to wind up with "super awesome powers" as Takuya phrased it.

Koichi stirring in his lap dragged him bodily from his thoughts.

'Koichi?' For a moment, all the pent-up panic came rolling back up to the surface, but it was instantly squelched when the other sat up and hugged him. Albeit the other was quite shocked, but in a good way as he happily hugged the other back. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're okay. I've been going crazy…literally. Just ask Takuya, or JP for that matter; you know he literally dragged me in here.' He was well aware of the fact that he was blabbing, but the fact that his brother hadn't responded at all, except letting his arms fall limp and tilting his head up blankly. 'Koichi?'

Blue and purple mixed together, until the other replied, torn between confusion and lack of emotion. 'Koji.'

'Koichi!'

The excited yell was enough to bring a horde of panicked teenagers into the room, but the other seemed to have frozen back into his doll persona.

And September wasn't even around to give them a heads up.

* * *

><p>'So his memories are resurfacing?' Zoe wrinkled her brow. 'They were gone before?'<p>

'That was what September said,' Koji replied. 'Apparently to do with the whole reformatting thing. It's like a psychological block or something is corroding…I think.'

'There was a lot of scientific jargon that didn't make sense?' JP supplied with slight amusement.

'Yeah. But I got the gist of it.'

'Yeah,' Takuya agreed. 'The gist is the important part.' The grin widened. 'That's great.'

Somehow, the previously strained atmosphere had lifted in a swoop. It was really one of those "ignorance is bliss" situations, except in one case it was bouncing back from the extreme.

'He just needs time.'

'I hope so.'

Melancholy. But it was gentler, more soothing.

'Why are we having pizza again?'

'Blame JP. He did the shopping.'

'And Takuya for doing the cooking.'

Koji coughed out the slice he was eating. 'What?' he choked.

'Frozen pizzas,' JP explained. 'The only quick-heat stuff left in the freezers in the supermarket. Remind me never to shop on Wednesday afternoons again.'

'You mean they don't have tofu?'

'Takuya, we're in Argentina. I'd be surprised someone round here's even heard of tofu.'

Takuya shrugged and began to reach for another slice, but Zoe slapped him on the wrist.

'No need to act like my mum,' the brunette pouted.

'Leave some for September,' the other reminded.

'Oh yeah. Almost forgot about him.' There was a pause. 'Where is he anyway? Who works on Sundays?'

He hadn't been there when he woke up, nor had there been a note.

There was a five way glance-exchange and then the same number of shrugs. Koichi, who had wandered to the window and was looking nonchalantly outside, was the one who replied, absentmindedly patting the shadow the synthetic plant on the windowsill cast.

'Piedras 545.'

'What's there?' Takuya asked.

'Art Factory Hostel,' came the monotonous reply. He settled back down on the armchair that had been prescribed to him and began drawing again, almost absentmindedly as if part of his mind was elsewhere. Which it was, kind of.

Koji peered at it once it was finished, before taking it and showing the others, still seated around the table. 'Hey guys, look at this.'

He wore a bit of a frown as the others looked.

'Okay?' Takuya blinked. 'So September's with a bunch of girls. So what?'

The others were a tad more attentive.

'Isn't that the girl who's in a lot of the other drawings?' Zoe asked, pointing at the long haired one. 'February?'

'Yeah.' Koji nodded, before pointing at the one with her hair in a bun. 'And that's Xiulan Li, or that's what she said her name was anyway. She claims to be a Chinese transfer student, but I'm not sure I believe her after the incident in the bar. I could have sworn I saw her eyes glow, but things went really crazy so I don't know what happened next.' There were a few other vaguely familiar faces, and it turned out Takuya was wrong. There were males as well.

He thought for a moment before grinning mirthlessly. 'You know what I think? What we know about this so-called war in progress barely scraps the bottom of the barrel.'

Zoe raised an eyebrow, a little concerned. 'That's a given,' she said quietly.

'True, but I was just thinking that the way Contractors and Dolls are viewed, dehumanising them I mean-'

'We don't,' four voices said at once.

'You know what I mean,' Koji rebuked. 'I never said you guys did.' But a small smile spread over his face.

'But you like to hear it all the same.' Tommy smiled.

'You're getting soft,' Takuya teased.

'Am not,' the other replied hotly.

'Enough,' JP cut through the playful banter. 'Koji, go on.'

'Thank you.' He took a deep breath, before continuing. 'September and April both claimed their Syndicate were trying to make sure Contractors survived, but apart from taking a bunch of helpless teenagers in, does anything else suggest that?'

'Meaning?' But the eldest of their six-membered group was frowning.

'Well, that scuffle in the Karaoke bar mostly, but April even seemed to fight to kill. Her tactics, sliding people into dangerous areas, the bubble that causes a mini-drowning, causing people to explode…'

'You saw the last one?'

'No. But she mentioned it.'

There was a bit of silence. Then…

'You can't really blame her.' That was JP again. 'Maybe that's just the sort of life she's led.'

'Then explain why September carries a gun around in his pocket,' the other snapped lightly. 'If you're after self defence, isn't a pocket knife better? And I doubt he would have taken us in if we hadn't reminded him of his kids. Just because his Contract doesn't directly kill-' He cut off abruptly, before scowling. 'God, all the damage that sort of power could do; wiping memories, changing them, _manipulating _them-'

They all understood. They saw the damage that had caused first hand. They saw Duskmon, the result of a memory game played by a corrupt Celestial digimon who was himself corrupted by a warped past.

'Anyway, I think Koichi knows best, right?'

He blinked when he realised his brother was no-where in sight.

'Koichi!'

Nothing.

'Drat. Where is he?'

Takuya stood as well. 'Don't worry. We'll find him.' In an instant, he had slipped into leader mode. 'JP, Zoe? Which one of you is staying?'

Both stared at him.

'Well, someone better look around the house. And stay in case someone comes back?'

They switched the stares to each other, before Zoe shrugged. 'I'll stay,' she said quickly, before JP could.

'Okay. JP, Tommy, you two go together. I'll go with Koji.'

Those were interesting choices, but it wasn't like they'd ever needed to split up into three groups without Koichi around.

* * *

><p>'This is hopeless,' JP sighed, turning the map upside down before turning it right side up again. 'Good thing Takuya remembered the map. And wasn't wearing high heels.'<p>

'But he's a guy.' Tommy blinked at him, jumping down the last few steps and landing on solid ground. 'Guys don't wear high heels.'

The elder brunette sighed. 'I wasn't literal-hey, see something?'

The ex-warrior of ice was staring blankly at the shadow of an outcrop, where he could have sworn he had seen something blue with eyes. He said as much and received an odd look in return.

'What?'

'Koji said the same thing. That's an observer spirit, but only Contractors can see them…unless he lied to us.'

'Um…JP?' Tommy cut through the other's blabbing. 'I think that spirit's trying to lead us somewhere.'

'…and there's no way to tell them apart, unless you're a Doll…maybe-what?' JP paused. 'That could be a trap.'

Tommy was already following. JP muttered something about kids and followed, though it was a better lead admittedly than wandering around with a half-useful map.

It turned out Tommy had the right idea…sort of. Koichi was at the end of the blue bricked road. Ironically, JP thought, the blue hadn't been yellow otherwise they could have been looking for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. That had always been a favourite western fairytale.

'Koichi!' he called loudly, so loudly in fact that several birds shrieked and fled.

The piercing voice penetrated the hazy mind, and he lifted his head with the barest trace of recognition flaring in his eyes. 'JP…'


	29. Memories

Author's Notes

A bit of a short chapter, but it works. Sort of. The fighting scene really sucked. But new world next chapter. Part of the same arc though; won't end till Angel Sanctuary.

BTW, the last flash of blue is another transfer, but because it's Koichi's POV (omnipresent), it's not explicitly stated.

Another BTW. Remember the gun from last chapter. No shots fired.

Third BTW. 0.1 amps is enough to kill someone. 0.2 amps is (obviously) double that so twice the impact. It's current that's lethal, not voltage. Quick physics lesson.

And you know how I was updating once every day or few days at a most? That was because I had a backlog, which has run dry seeing as I was using the opportunity to update my other fics and write ideas that won't leave my head alone. So updates might slow down. I'll still try to update ASAP, otherwise I'll never finish.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think. Pwetty please *gives cobra eyes, which friend thinks is cute and I agree*…or maybe python eyes.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 29<span>

Memories

The younger sprinted over, the elder puffing his way along behind. After all, he wasn't the one who sometimes spent hours on end chasing after the soccer ball with normally elder friends.

'Hey, Koichi.' He crouched down beside the other, before swinging his legs over the edge. Unlike the human-turned-doll, his legs didn't quite skim the water, so he just continued to swing them, one of his own nervous habits. The hand wringing they somewhat shared, much to Zoe's amusement…and the amusement of Yutaka who surprisingly got along well with both twins but more so the generally more patient and quiet Koichi. Of course, that meant that Yutaka and Takuya clashed personalities, but got along reasonably well in any case. That was after the elder brother paranoia kicked in though. 'Are you okay?'

The other didn't reply, still staring out in the water, melds of blue and black reflecting in his eyes…or perhaps the artistic view would take it to be the other way around.

'That was a stupid question,' Tommy muttered to himself, and catching that the eldest of the now-trio retreated just out of earshot. Truthfully the pair had not gotten the chance to talk about their experience at the facility together, and perhaps while the situation wasn't exactly ample for the latter (ie. Koichi), it was necessary and the timing was as good as it was going to get for the former (ie. Tommy). Perhaps it was the Digital World, or everything else that had distracted him, or the painkillers, or the fact that he'd escaped the worst of it…but then the other had, according to him, been blinded for most so it was possible that neither knew the full extent of what had happened. Heck, the entire situation made his blood boil; how DARE they treat one of his best friends like a lab animal!

But there was nothing he could do about that. Maybe they just blew the whole thing out of proportion. Or maybe it was the Doll issue that did that. Or maybe there were just too many maybes to deal with, and just like the Duskmon saga they should do what was best and leave things be after a nice little heart to heart talk…or confrontation like the temporary seated warrior of darkness staring down the gigantic corrupted Celestial Digimon. Seriously, if it were him, he would have probably wet his pants, despite being _far_ too old to do so.

In any case, he didn't hear the rest of the conversation.

* * *

><p>'I guess it isn't that much different and all,' Tommy continued, trying to kick at the water and ultimately failing. 'The way we deal with our problems. Maybe this is trying to tell us that, you know? Especially you, who always pretends nothing's bothering you and it just goes on stewing inside. I think I understand, somewhat, because…' Kick, kick, kick. 'I'm pretty much doing the same thing. I guess it felt easiest at the time, but I don't understand how you can stand having to do that again and again and again...' Another pause. 'To be honest, I don't think I can go on doing that anymore. I didn't even see much but I keep on having nightmares about it…but it's much better now. But you've got it worse, nightmares on top of nightmares, and one thing is just going to drag back something else and…'<p>

He was well aware of the fact that he was babbling. But since Koji did the same thing with Takuya with ironically him doing the wandering around trying not to eavesdrop (like JP was doing at that particular moment), he figured he was well justified in doing so and no-one would question it. He also figured that the two were unrelated.

'It's not fair.'

'Life's not fair,' Koichi said unexpectedly after the other trailed off.

'No,' Tommy agreed. 'It's not, but Yutaka's always telling me that's a lesson adults learn the hard way. I wonder then, after all this, if we can still be child-'

He cut off with a sudden shout from JP and another from his own lips as a shadow loomed over them both and another over the boy who had saw it to warn them and therefore compromised his own position and was now tripped and sprawled. The result was that nothing productive on their side was accomplished, a wire line having tripped up JP and still intertwining with a brown haired girl holding the other end of the cord with a blonde beside her. Tommy had fallen backwards into the water upon the shadow and Kouichi had tilted his head back ever so slightly, more of a reaction than he had recently done, with a silver knife gleaming at his throat, the one holding him owning black hair and facial features dissimilar to the brunette girl. If it hadn't been for that, both JP and Tommy would have assumed the two to be the transfers Koji had alluded to.

JP just blinked at the wire, having failed to notice the situation behind him, before making to untangle himself.

'I wouldn't do that,' the blonde cautioned. 'Bai here can sent up to 0.2 amps down that wire and much else besides.'

'Let me guess,' JP frowned. 'You're February.'

'I prefer Amber if you don't mind,' she replied. Perhaps for good reason, seeing as her eyes could be reasonably labelled as amber. The ex-warrior of thunder realised two things at that point; the two accompanying him were the brother and sister Koji had met a few days ago and had suspected being undercover in a different Syndicate, and that being the warrior of thunder, there was an extremely slim chance that 0.2 amps going through his system would not kill him. Seeing as 0.1 amps could kill a person by fibrillation, that was clutching at too many straws to be comfortable. 'But how do you know that name? Unless…' She looked over to the doll, frozen in place with the blade on his neck. 'That was the Doll.'

Tommy decided that his blank look was a little less justified in that issue, but perhaps more experienced Contractors simply had to look at a Doll to know.

'What should we do?' Bai asked in a low voice. 'That Contractor is not here.'

'No.' Amber pursed her lips lightly. 'Nor is the other one. But they will come.'

She spoke with such certainty, and was proven half right when September suddenly appeared.

'February,' he acknowledged, to which the blonde inclined her head before he took in the rest of the scene. 'I hardly think this is the grounds of a chat.'

'It's not,' the woman agreed amiably. 'Keeping in mind I see the future and you the mind, there isn't really all that much for us to talk about.'

'Except your company.' But that which was lacking in his tone was quickly pointed out.

Amber just smiled and tilted her head slightly. 'You can see into my mind, can't you? You shouldn't need to ask.'

September stepped closer. 'That doesn't give an excuse to the first betrayal.'

The smile dimmed, and the blonde shook her head. 'Love is a fickle thing,' she whispered quietly, looking at him significantly before tilting her head. 'I know you understand, and in time, others will as well.' There was a pause, and then…'Just how much does he mean to you September?'

September frowned. Even with the ability to read minds, there were some people that were difficult to figure out.

She turned and gave a quick nod to the unidentified man with the blade, who tightened his grip and gave the young boy in the water a look that made him stay exactly where he was.

'Are you willing to let him die?'

Two agape mouths stared. Well, the mouths themselves did not "stare" per say, but February, or Amber as she preferred to be called, just smiled again. 'Perhaps I should put it in the more Contractor way; are you willing to let yourself die?'

As September pursed his lips in what could be a scowl, she continued. 'Why didn't you bring backup?'

'I wasn't exactly planning on handing you in at the current moment.'

'It was your only chance you know,' Amber replied calmly, looking over her shoulder, and ironically at the magnificent gate across the water that for some reason no-one had actually noticed except the newcomers. 'There's a war on the doorstep.'

JP and Tommy assumed she meant figuratively as they could see nothing.

'I wouldn't worry too much,' she said, having caught the gazes. 'You'll only skim the surface…mostly.'

'What do you know February?' September interjected.

'You know I see the future,' she replied, before sighing a little. 'Not everything. I see the end in this case, not the means.'

'Well, that's all fine and dandy,' JP unwisely interrupted. 'But what does that have to do with us?'

She looked towards them. 'Convenience,' was all she said, before whipping around and throwing a knife into the shadow. A slight squeal was all that said her target had hit. The one that no-one except the two females recognised jumped down and dragged the boy with her, and JP made to follow with a cry of alarm before electricity jumped down the length. A light whip suddenly appearing made to strike, only for another silver knife to catch it, locking the ex-warrior of light in with combat with the woman who had seemed to have shrunk slightly in age.

Zoe and Takuya ran up as well (apparently the pair had picked up the singular) and joined September, and to their credit no-one bothered bothering them…for the present. After all, it was far easier to let the fighting continue…even if there was only one real fight going on. Between Koji and Amber.

* * *

><p>If Matt Warren was surprised when he found himself half stuck in an ice cube, he didn't comment, nor did he release his hold on his hostage who had somehow managed to go frost free. Actually, the only one who did show any form of surprise was Tommy himself, who then sprouted a "what the heck" expression, seeing no-one move, and lowered himself to blow bubbled in the water.<p>

'Odd remuneration,' Matt commented. 'Rather childish.'

Tommy just stared. 'Remuneration?' Then it clicked. 'Oh.'

The other just stared suspiciously at him.

'Mind letting my friend go…unless you want the rest of you to be covered in ice.'

'That works,' he agreed, pushing the boy aside and letting his own eyes glow. A second later, the ice shrapnel went flying, before being knocked down by snowballs.

'Why are you fighting us?' Accidently, Tommy asked in Japanese, so once he noted the mistake, he was rather surprised when he received an answer. In Japanese.

'It's better than fighting someone else. This way no-one has to get hurt or die.'

The younger boy gaped at the adult as Koichi stood, staring at the Gate.

'That's not true,' he said quietly, and for a moment, both of them stopped. Then Matt muttered something about dysfunctional dolls which Koji would have whacked him for had he been in hearing range, but then the water started to be sucked out, like a vacuum.

'Um…what?'

* * *

><p>Amber was doing a good job dodging Koji's attacks…maybe because it was non-lethal and maybe because he seemed more determined to go over to his friends. Or maybe because there was September as well, and a triangle fight with two bystanders wasn't an ideal situation. Or maybe it was because they all had been momentarily distracted when the electricity Bai had unleashed resulted in it being stopped half-way by another surge from JP, who looked as surprised as anyone…seeing as his eyes hadn't glowed, nor had he showed any of the other signs of being a Contractor.<p>

But they all stopped at the sudden vacuum.

'Carmine,' Bai said slowly, switching the wire so it lashed out at the blind shadows. Everyone stopped their current fights and stared at her as she explained: 'Havoc.'

Koji quickly changed tactics, forming a counter shield much like the one in Pokémon. Bai and Amber had shot up their wires to the nearest building and jumped clear…and September had been lucky enough to wind up in the shield as well, seeing as he was essentially between JP and Zoe. As for the people in the water, the first hole didn't quite reach them, but the second one was a different matter, and everyone was a little tied up with the first hole.

* * *

><p>Matt quickly reeled off as much as he could, seeing as he was unfortunately hopeless at stopping Carmine, or Havoc as she was more commonly called. Actually, only Hei's team, Bai's brother that is, called her Carmine, but that was really beside the point.<p>

Actually, everything was beside the point except the large hole in the water…err, ice actually, but that wasn't working either.

Even the Doll's face was changing.

Spending five year as a Contractor had turned him into an emotionless killing weapon, but five months with Amber and the Evening Primrose had changed that…with a bit of help from an old school sweetheart. Of course, something could possibly change again as the support of both land and water (or ice) vanished beneath their feet.

So why hadn't _he_ hadn't?

He opened his eyes (yes, he admitted he had squeezed them shut in fear for his life, but hey, he was human) to find they were all…floating above the vacuum?

Tommy stared at Koichi. 'Umm…Koichi?'

His ice had accidently touched some of the vectors that had suddenly shot up (so the horns weren't for show), so _he _knew what was keeping the three of them from falling into the abyss. He was surprised Koichi remembered the vectors; actually, it seemed more on instinct, because a hand was coming up to touch them, then another as wide blue eyes met the green ones. The last time they had met, properly…he remembered what had happened.

And it suddenly flashed before the other's eyes.

Both hands tugged at the horns at the same time, almost as though he was trying to rip them off. In his head, a VCR was playing, hot flashes, footage rolling over each other's tarting and ending with eyes staring at him, green, blue, some other colours and then more variations of blue, brown, red, then blue again…

…and screaming. A flash of blue again. And screaming…

…then nothing.


	30. The Moon Kingdom

Author's Notes

Now starts the Sailor Moon arc. I'm following the anime, and that's important because in the Manga, there was a prohibition on relations between the people of the earth and the moon. The warfare once Beryl rose wiped out both kingdoms and evolution on earth restarted, but in the anime Beryl came from the Negaverse and Queen Serenity sent her people to earth in the hopes of a new future.

Michi is the girl in Home Again, Takuya Returns. Or at least that's what I think the name is. Can't remember, haven't watched frontier for a while. Still watching Sailor Moon.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 30<span>

The Moon Kingdom

Perhaps for the first time, no-one was out cold during the transition. Five out of the six of them suddenly understood why; it was an extremely painful experience, and all of them couldn't help but scream at the sheer agony of their brains being ripped apart and remade. Zoe in particular yet loose a shrill, elongated scream, feeling her skin come off her body (quite literally) and remold itself. For a moment in between, she had nothing, then a gown, fuchsite and flowing down past her bare feet with large, beautiful wings spanning across her back and something nesting itself into her blonde hair…then the wings exploded into feathers and the pain faded as those feathers wove her beautiful evening gown into a uniform of some sort, then into something more casual…actually, to the jacket, shirt, skirt and boots she had been wearing before. The only thing that stopped her from passing out during the transition was the fact that Koichi hadn't _stopped_ screaming, and it was a cry so full of pain and agony that no-one could close their ears to it.

By the time she had her eyesight, she found Takuya and JP semi-restraining the elder twin. Actually, it was more like them grabbing a wrist each, trying to stop him from tearing out his horns, and Tommy was dancing around anxiously, torn between them and Koji, and Koji…

Koji's eyes were glowing red, and the electric blue lining of Contractor power was clouding him. The countershield was activated around all of them, and on the other side were four women, each in a fighting stance.

And there was suddenly silence with electricity glowing on the outside. But there wasn't much of an opportunity to see what was happening behind her, seeing the intimidating presence before.

'Any chance of getting through Jupiter?' The blonde asked.

'Nope,' the brunette, presumably Jupiter, replied. 'Any ideas Mercury?'

'Maybe,' the bluenette muttered, thinking. 'Venus, back me up?'

'No prob,' the blonde replied.

Hang on a sec… Zoe thought, frowning slightly. Mercury, Venus and Jupiter? That sounded familiar.

Then it clicked, and she face-palmed her head. Of course, Sailor Moon.

'Um…Koji?'

'Mercury Bubbles, Blast!'

Wherever they were (no-one had quite gotten the chance to look) was suddenly covered in fog. Which made maintaining the counter shield difficult.

'You might want some sort of a mirror or wall,' Zoe said hurriedly, just as there was a yell of: 'Venus Crescent Beam, Smash.'

Apparently, either Koji or Tommy had acted on that, because there was a: 'what the hell' from the women.

'Oh dear, what is going on here?'

That voice sounded vaguely familiar too.

'We discovered intruders in the ballroom.' That was definitely Mars.

'We didn't mean to land in here,' Tommy hurriedly said before Koji could say anything. Which was probably the wise thing to do. 'We…just wound up here.'

'Oh?' Venus asked once the smoke cleared. 'So you expect us to believe you wound up in a highly secure room by pure coincidence?'

'It's a long story,' JP offered. 'Time-travelling, or maybe it's dimension-travelling. We were on a port in Argentina last we saw. Surely you saw a big flash of blue light?'

The four women looked at each other, and the elder white haired one, the new arrival, looked at them too.

'Well, yeah,' Jupiter shrugged finally. 'Before Mars sent a fire-bird at them.' She raised an eyebrow at Mercury who had pulled out a small computer. 'Got anything?'

'Small disturbance in the flux of the space-time circumference,' Mercury responded, tapping away. 'It's fading fast though…gone now.'

That seemed good enough, because Venus punched Mars lightly on the shoulder. 'And to think you almost barbequed the advances of science.'

'Well, they popped up out of no-where. What was I supposed to do?'

'Enough girls,' the eldest said in a serene tone, before turning to the…guests. She meant to inquire further into their means of arrival and purpose, but her eyes were quickly drawn to two figures half supporting, half hovering over a third that had slumped in their grip. With barely a flutter of her long white gown she was at their side, brushing aside the wet bangs gently with one hand while the other palm gauged the temperature with trickle of power in her touch. The other's skin had flushed rapidly, and it was no wonder, as Serenity, Queen of the Moon Kingdom, drew slightly back.

Koji had made to move, being the protective brother he was, but had decided against it. While someone like September triggered natural defence instinct, the woman before them was so angel-like, so motherly, that one couldn't help but believe she would bring no evil or foul-ill towards them.

'Mercury?'

The bluenette stepped forward.

'Do you mind retrieving a crystal?'

She blinked, before looking at the unmoving form, the one who had been screaming earlier. Truth be told, it was the screaming that had given them all such a fright and prompted a retaliation. By experience only the forces of the Negaverse screamed murder when they suddenly appeared in front of them. Guests normally arrived at the Court.

But then, there had never been a flux of that magnitude or coordination before.

'That bad?' she asked, still looking at the pale flushed skin, eyes travelling up to look at the wrists held by the other two boys and finally pulled away from his head…and the two horns protruding the mop of jet black hair.

The Queen nodded.

'Which one?'

There were numerous crystals in the palace, the most valuable being the Imperium Silver Crystal. Then there were those of the planets in alliance: all those in the inner solar system, some of the stars, and that of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, charged to protect the Milky way from outside intruders. And then there were the lesser jewels, but each held some power to their own. And each could draw a life force into statis, or healing.

'I think you'll know.'

The energies of people tended to respond in different ways.

'If you're sure…'

The Queen nodded, so Mercury bowed and left. It seemed she knew a little more than she was telling.

'Jupiter, will you take him to a bedroom?'

Jupiter simply nodded and easily scooped the teen up.

'Now,' Serenity said, turning to the five that remained. 'Let us see if we can understand each other a little better.'

'Um..where are we?' Takuya asked first, before Zoe elbowed him. 'Oww, what was that for?'

Mars looked disapproving, but Venus giggled.

'We're on the Moon,' the blonde replied. 'Hello, Sailor Moon?'

'I don't watch girly animes,' the brunette exclaimed. 'But I guess I should have remembered, what with the way Michi goes on about it and all…'

'Does anyone else sense déjà vu?' Koji muttered under his breath, so no-one else heard.

Of course, their onlookers were rather confused.

* * *

><p>'You know, I'm surprised you haven't jumped the cliff by now,' Takuya commented.<p>

'Shut up Takuya,' Koji shot back sourly.

'No need to bite my head off.' The brunet held his hands up in mock surrender. 'But that kinda answers my question. Delayed reaction much?'

The longer haired twin crossed his arms and ignored his friend.

'Oh come on,' the other persisted. 'This place is awesome, and it's so peaceful. Nothing to worry about.'

'Except another war on the horizon,' Koji pointed out, almost coldly.

'What's the point of looking that far forward? That's definitely a problem with you two.'

Koji was so surprised he temporarily forgot what had been bothering him.

'What do you mean?' he asked.

'Easy.' And the other gave a cheesy grin. 'You focus too much on the future, and Koichi focuses too much on the past. Normally…except he kinda started the whole war paranoia, didn't he?' Takuya scratched his head. 'That's not like him.'

For some reason, the younger twin hadn't noticed that particular point until his best friend mentioned it.

'You're right.'

'I am quite often. Problem is I cry wolf so often that no-one believes the right stuff. Go figure. They all believe the wrong.'

'And you doubt their reason?' Koji raised an eyebrow, prompting the brunet to punch him lightly on the shoulder.

'Don't you go acting so high and mighty,' he joked, before adapting a more serious expression. 'I'm also surprised you trusted Serenity so easily.'

'Queen Serenity.'

Takuya raised the other eyebrow, mirroring his mate. 'Giving royalty the proper respect eh? She's really something. Geez, just by looking at her, she looks almost like an angel. What?' he asked, seeing the look he received. 'I'm serious, and you were thinking it.'

'Was not.'

'Was too.'

They went on for a bit, before Takuya finally broke it off with a barking laugh. 'Feel good?'

Koji looked off the battlement, the spreading lush green grass and white ice all around. There was a bit of a grin in his twitch, but it faded soon enough. He wasn't the type to crack up over ridiculous things like Takuya. 'Yeah, but I'll feel even better once Koichi's on his feet.'

'So go see him idiot.' And the other bodily shoved him towards the bedrooms Venus had showed them to, including the one Jupiter had carried Koichi off to.

* * *

><p>Thanks to Queen Serenity, Koichi was now sleeping peacefully, though his skin was still flushed from fever.<p>

She was, surprisingly, still there once Koji came in.

'I'll leave you two alone,' she said kindly, straightening up from where she was hunched over the elder form.

Koji looked at his brother's form, and instantly noting the improvement, swallowed at the sudden sappiness that came over him. 'Thank you.'

Serenity smiled. 'My pleasure,' she said. 'I wouldn't be much of a Queen if I could do nothing for my people. And that includes guests.'

She nodded to him before leaving serenely, and Koji looked back down at his brother. The two horns still persisted, but he had meant it when he said they looked cute. They looked cute on Nyu. They looked cute on Nana. And they looked cute on Koichi. Koichi just hadn't seemed to agree though.

And it was hard to believe that such a cute little thing could carry so much bigotry and prejudice along with it. Something to make it not just ugly, but the epitome of evil, blood, murder…

And how easily the light had answered his call, forming barriers, weapons…how he had danced with a woman years his senior, dodging and slashing with the string of light, sharpening and straightening it into a sword, flexing it into a whip. A sword that could so easily cut through flesh. A whip that could so easily mar it.

It's a feeling you cannot ever hope to understand without _being_ there, experiencing it.

Sometimes he thought about that and it made him sick, how easy it was to justify hurting others, killing others (the Digimon if nothing else). That made it easier, if anything. The first kill had been to save people. And that's how it stayed. To save the Digital World. To save their own. And the lower fight, to save individuals, a community, a place.

But he did not regret it. It may not have been his war to fight, but he had to play a role in fighting it nonetheless. Because it had become his war, ironically by the one who had been most against, most fearful of the idea.

But that may not have stopped him. Because there were innocent people. Innocent bystanders. If not one place, then another. And they had stood last on the doors to Heaven for a reason. Nothing happened without cause. Each step, each journey was a lesson, each one somehow tying to the next.

It hadn't made any sense before. But it was starting too. Perhaps in the end, they could truly grow, become better.

But things always had to grow worse first, didn't they?

'What's got your spirits down?'

He jumped, whipping around to see Venus standing in the doorway.

'Dinner,' she said by way of explanation, before coming in. 'He your brother?'

'Yeah,' the other answered shortly.

'You must love him very much.'

He looked up sharply. 'What makes you say that?'

'The eyes tell a long story you know. Yours drown, but that blares louder than anything.' She grinned as he turned as if to disregard her. 'Sometimes it's easier to see things in the eyes of someone else than it is to see them in your own. And sometimes you need someone to see that. But that's not always enough.'

The other didn't react, though she could tell they were sinking. She gave them a few minutes.

'Think about it,' she advised. 'But before that, you might what to come to dinner before your friends Zoe and JP clear out the table.'

'They wouldn't do that,' Koji said automatically, but followed her, feeling a tad better. Not that he would admit it.


	31. Statis

Author's Notes

You know, this fic has become the longest (at current) in both length and chapters.

On a side note, two more worlds (you might be able to guess the next one before I finish this one. It's related to Zoe's Scout form) before the end of this arc. Also, if you know what Monazite is, you might also be able to guess.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 31<span>

Statis

The moon was a nice, peaceful, relaxing place...not that he had seen much of it. He'd stood on the balcony for awhile, somehow gravitating back on occasion when his silent vigil was broken, but otherwise he stayed by his brother's side for as long as he could.

He was seeing that it really was impossible, even in such close proximity, to be always together. For him to always protect his brother. And he was the younger one, despite a few minutes being all that separated them, so at times it seemed like an almost selfish reason for him wanting to be his brother's Guardian. It wasn't that he discredited the web that was their friendship; everyone looked out for everyone else, but they were brothers. Sometimes, that extra oomph seemed to be missing from their relationship. Especially the times where he really didn't understand his twin.

Like right then, sitting on a chair by his bedside and wondering why Koichi wouldn't wake up. Sure he slept in as late as he could get away with (which between the two halves of his family was not late at all) but he certainly wasn't the type to keep them waiting. Even when Koji had cried over the still comatose form, his brother had forced himself into enough consciousness and awareness to answer the plea...and apparently setting his recovery back by a bit. According to the Doctor, that was over-exerting himself, which had rather dampened the enthusiasm. Koichi hadn't seemed to care however, happy his brother and friends were there, happy the Digital World and all their digimon friends were safe, and happy that everything looked like it was pending towards a happy ever after ending. And then there were all the times he ran to stop himself being late, sometimes being as reckless as Takuya. But he wouldn't keep them waiting and worrying if he could help it.

He also wouldn't tell them if something was bothering him. He had nightmares sometimes; the only reason _he_ knew was because they visited each other on occasion and it was kind of hard to hide once asleep. If Koichi did have one in his company however, they'd just talk for a bit and he'd fall right back to sleep. Sometimes, Koji wondered if he even remembered in the morning; he certainly never brought them up.

And sometimes, he'd wake up in the morning tuckered out, but with no interruptions in the night he could remember himself. Sometimes he wondered whether he wasn't the only one having nightmares; it was hard to know. He kept his door locked still; it was a habit. And he couldn't well ask Ookami whether or not he had terrors during the night. Of course, if he did, the warm fur and thumping heart would probably lull him straight back to sleep.

Somehow, it had never occurred to him until he watched his brother's unnatural sleeping face.

It was said that people wore their emotions on their sleeves in their sleep, the natural masks they wore during the day falling away. It was one of those things about light and darkness that so suited the twins as far as the outside world was concerned. Those who knew better knew that Koichi wore a mask of his own when he needed it, to stop worrying others and perhaps trying to convince himself of something or other. It seemed to work...mostly. It didn't look like the last attempt worked out though. It was hard to tell of course. That diclonius girl in the wheelchair and the whole Doll/Contractor thing messed the crystal clear image up.

The point was, there was always some sort of expression on his father's sleeping face. Something that told his mood; whatever the expression, it was never cold and blank. It was never blank, almost cold, like it was then. Never completely unreadable. Misleading yes, but not unreadable. That was _his_ job.

'You know,' he sighed aloud, letting his head fall forward. 'Times like this I wish I understood you a little better. Knew what was going through your head so I could help you.'

After all, Koichi had the slight advantage of having combed through his mind as Duskmon. Perhaps all that he had seen hadn't registered immediately; he'd even admitted that fact himself, but he certainly knew a lot more about his brother than his brother did about him. Which didn't matter a lot of the time…except when something drastic happened and the extra closure were needed.

They were like friends. Best friends. But there seemed to be something missing from the whole "brotherly" relationship. Some sort of closure they'd never talked about; being relatively alone their whole lives, they've never had to, so it was rather difficult to stop trying.

The Koichi sleeping "peacefully" amidst the white covers looked more like a doll or a painting than the real thing. Like one of his half-finished drawings, before he sketched and shaded the emotion into a character. Koichi was rather good at that; he'd even considered applying for a scholarship into anime school. As far as the other knew, his half-finished folio was still in the backpack.

It just so happened that they'd all left their bags in the apartment in Argentina. And apparently they hadn't followed them to the moon. Of course, barring Takuya's, they hadn't come to the Pokémon world either, so everyone had their fingers crossed that they would pop up in the next world. In the meantime, Venus had grabbed Zoe (Jupiter had stopped her grabbing Tommy with her other hand) and dressed her in a fuchsia sleeveless gown which seemed rather suited for formal palace wear after going through a few different colours, during the time her own clothes were cleaned. Even the Guardians, apparently the court of a princess he hadn't yet met, weren't on "guard duty", they went around in gowns too. The men wore tunics, which a…less ditzy Mars had given them. She'd originally given them grey, but Mercury had whispered something to her and she had taken them back, returning with an armful of neon green.

Jupiter raised an eyebrow.

'Can't you treat them as _guests_ Mars?'

Mars shot a glare at the taller brunette, but before she could state her opinion, they were interrupted by Mercury again.

'It's only temporary Jupiter,' the bluenette reasonably pointed out. 'And this way, less people will ask questions.'

And so he was in the army's uniform, minus the cloak and weapons, sitting by his brother's bedside. As far as he knew, everybody else was out skating with Jupiter, apparently a popular past time on the moon. He couldn't skate to save his life, only because he'd never put on a pair of skates before. No doubt he wouldn't have too much trouble learning; his martial arts classes taught him the finesse and balance required, but he really didn't feel like skating, and while Takuya looked like he would be frog-marching the lone wolf, JP have him a look and forced him to leave the issue.

Last he'd seen, Zoe had intervened and pulled the brunette away by the year, snatching the goggles in the process to avoid someone accidently getting blinded. He couldn't help wonder what had happened to the goggles, because they were shining into his eyes-

No, it was the crystal around his brother's neck that was reflecting the light. Some sort of earth-reddish crystal. Mercury had called it Monazite, and if he remembered correctly, it contained many of the rare earth elements, including Lanthanum, Neodymium, Praseodymium and Cerium and another bunch he couldn't quite remember. Somehow, it didn't look awkward at all on him, even as it lay tumbled over his chest, hanging on a black cord. It went with his usual autumn-coloured attires.

That was another thing he struggled at understanding. Why the heck his brother liked autumn so much. Autumn led to winter. Age led to death.

But it was difficult to think that when looking at the reddish-brown gem, sparkling in the room's natural light. The sort that trickled through a tree's canopy when lounging under it, that shone on a sunflower and caused it to open its eyes and spread colour in the world. The type that wasn't too saturated with light it blinded all, including himself.

Put that way, Autumn did seem more preferable to summer. But he preferred winter: cold, hard, strong…leading to the ice and snow melting and leaving the way to spring and the seeds bursting from the frosted ground, blooming with a new life…

He stretched a hand out and touched it, before quickly snatching the offending fingers as the burn registered. The crystal was _hot_.

But for a moment, he had a glimpse of something. A snatch really. Not an image, but sounds. Buzzing voices. Someone crying. Nothing else distinguishable. And even the crying didn't make all that much sense.

For a moment, he stared at the crystal, then his hand. The pink skin was already fading into its usual colour, as was the sting, and the buzzing vanished as if it had never been. But the crystal burned with an even stronger fire, and the boy wearing it grimaced slightly, breaking the tranquil mask as a hand outside the coverlet twitched, bringing it slightly closer to the crystal.

A shadow suddenly cast itself through the doorway, causing the other to spin around. Some time during his thoughts and vigil, he had stood up, and had been bent over the bed.

'I'm sorry to startle you.' This was a new woman, almost as tall as the Queen with hair a bottle green, tied in a knot above her head and falling to her knees. She was dressed in a sailor fuku uniform, much like the teens Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter, but one coloured in black and garnet and carrying a staff-like weapon in her left hand, shaped like a key and topped with a reddish orb in a heart-shaped home.

'Who are you?' His instincts were certainly working overtime, he thought wryly. That woman felt a lot like his brother. Dark, lonely, but with a kind heart buried under the façade. But different too. The other part of her, the stoic expression and the grip on her staff, reminded him of…well, _him_.

'Pluto, Guardian of Space and Time,' the woman replied, taking a step into the room, before averting her eyes to the once again motionless twin. Her eyes showed no change, nor did any part of her, except her halting just inside the doorway. 'I came to report to Queen Serenity and she has requested my aide in assisting the two of you before I take my leave again.'

The Garnet orb winked at the twins.

'You can…help him?'

His shields were in at a temporary holiday in Hawaii apparently, soaking up the surf and the sun's rays. Because he sounded rather like a scared boy worried about his brother…which is what he was after all. When he let his shields drop. But there was just something about the moon, and the people on it, that felt safe.

'No…'

His spirits dipped a bit, along with a clip of bitterness. _Of course…_

'…but you can.'

'What?' This time, he said it aloud.

The Garnet orb flared up, and the crystal Monazite burned brighter as well.

'It's your choice,' Pluto whispered, her voice strangely echoing as space warped slightly. A small orb of black hovered between the two crystals, ironically ending up just above Koji's chest. 'The risk is for you and you alone. Knowledge always comes at a price. Trust.'

'This isn't about knowledge,' Koji replied after a moment's thought. 'And as for trust, I have a little debt to pay back.' His tone was light, but he was thinking back on the agony as Duskmon had ripped through his memories, and the clarity once they all settled into place, shed from their glowing illumination with just enough darkness touching them to have them clear. This would be the opposite; he could see shadows moving about in the dark orb, having already guessed its contents.

As for the matter of trust…it was an act of pertaining to trust than breaking it. Right?

But his teeth gritted together slightly, eyes narrowing as the darkness grew sharper.

He shook his head. It didn't matter whether it was right or wrong. Understanding was the first step, and he knew that as things were, Koichi would never tell him himself.

'I need to do this.'

Pluto didn't answer, simply raising her staff. The Garnet orb glowed, and for a moment, his knees shook as their strength was zapped…and then he slumped beside his brother, the base of the Monazite crystal flaring before coming to rest by his fingertips.

Above them, the dark orb burst, tendrils of dark shadow vanishing into the boy it had hovered above.

The woman turned and left again, almost as silently as she had come.


	32. Silver Millennium

Author's Notes

Sorry for the late update. I was kind of busy with my other fics. Thursday is my x-over update day for now, so I'll vary between them now. Shouldn't be more than a month between each update though…hopefully. If there is, remind me because I've probably forgotten.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 32<span>

Silver Millennium

'This is so relaxing,' Zoe sighed, letting her hair whirl behind her as she skated in a slow loop. It was a tad slower than she would normally have liked, but it was rather nice to go slow after the wild ride they'd been on so far. The slow loop was just fast enough for the wind to caress her face without being strong enough to chill her.

'Relaxing?' JP asked, his legs shaking madly as tried not to fall on Tommy. The younger boy looked rather at ease as well, but he _would_. He was the warrior of Ice after all, even if his digimon form had spent more time zooming around of skis. Takuya was, rather remarkably, somewhere in between the skill level of the two experienced and the one who had never put on skates before.

And he had thought it would be like riding a bicycle. The problem, he decided as his kegs gave out (Tommy expertly skated out of the way, almost unconsciously as he didn't even look behind him at the flailing teen) was that the pivotal axis was greatly reduced to two 15cm lines with only a few millimetres of thickness apiece.

Or just the one, as neither of them had both skates down at the same time.

Takuya backed up as the eldest of their six-membered group attempted to claw himself to his feet on the chance he might be used as a support staff…and topple himself.

'Gee, thanks,' the other said sarcastically as the other two backtracked, having gotten a little ahead. 'Oww…'

He had tried to get himself to his feet (or skates) and fallen again.

'I'm not falling with you.' The other brunette held his arms out, bent and palms facing forward in a pushing pantomime.

'C'mon,' Zoe grinned, cheeks flushed pink as she took one of his arms as Tommy took the other. They heaved, but because JP was older, and…well, bugger, it was only when Takuya put his hands around Tommy's waist and pulled as well that the ex-warrior of thunder made it to his feet. Unfortunately for the flame warrior though, his left skate slipped at that moment and he went crashing backwards to the ground, Tommy falling on top of him thanks to the anchor. Luckily, he had let go of Tommy, and Zoe's help was enough to keep the two of them on their feet.

The other two brunettes weren't anywhere near as lucky, and were now lying sprawled on the ice.

A tinkling laugh reached their ears.

'Need a hand,' Mars asked, as Jupiter easily set them both on their feet. 'You look like you could do with some skating lessons.'

'I can skate just fine,' Takuya retorted.

'Prove it,' the raven said coyly, skating off…with much the same skillset as the brunette who took off after him.

'Oh boy,' Jupiter sighed. 'There she goes again. And another person as much as a hothead as her.'

JP finally got his legs to stop shaking. 'Okay, I think I'm good now,' he said, and Zoe let go.

He started shaking against immediately, but managed a few steps before almost stumbling into Jupiter. She did the sensible thing. She pushed him.

'Balance,' she shouted, skating expertly after him as Zoe trailed behind. '_You_ definitely need a proper lesson.'

'That would be great,' the ex-warrior of thunder muttered, managing to avoid crashing into a woman in white who stared after him for a moment before turning back to the man she was skating with.

* * *

><p>Koji blinked, then repeated the motion. Everything was black, without even the smallest pinnacle of light to illuminate his path. And as if the darkness wasn't bad enough, it was also completely and utterly silent.<p>

In other words, it was stifling.

He opened his mouth, about to ask advice by enlarge, but no sound escaped from his lips. A small whistle of air slipped past though, piercing like a siren through the silence.

Instinctively, he covered his ears, before being thrown back by some invisible barrier and falling into nothing.

* * *

><p>'God, my legs feel like they're going to fall off,' JP groaned, stretching his limbs upon the lush green grass. 'How can they still be at it?'<p>

Takuya plopped down beside him, but he was in better condition than the older brunette. 'They've got legs of steel,' he muttered. 'Or of ice.'

Zoe and Tommy were still skating to their heart's content. And the blonde, no longer held back by her slower and less experienced companions, was flying across the ice field, flanked by Princess Jupiter who had joined them with some of her companions.

Mars had given up after a little as well, and had gracefully spread herself and her red dress upon the grassy plain. So had Venus in her orange. Mercury was busy with something or other, but there was a woman in white, closely resembling the Queen Serenity except for the fact her hair was blonde. They were as graceful as the warrior of wind, and soon Tommy gave up trying to match grace with them. He was a better skier than a skater anyway, courtesy of his human spirit.

There were other people scattered around as well. People in a light green. People in a darker grey, mingling and talking together…but they could spot the mistrust amongst them.

They also couldn't help but notice that no-one else came to sit with them, even if they were dressed like the others, Zoe in a gown of fuchsia and the rest of them in light green tunics.

* * *

><p>'You're not going to be of any help if you get ejected without doing or even seeing anything,' a somewhat familiar voice whispered in his ears, catching the younger twin and halting the endless descent into an ill-defined abyss.<p>

It took Koji a moment to work out the identity of the speaker.

'Mekuzi?'

Funny thing was, he hadn't said the words aloud, simply thought them. But it echoed softly as if he had spoken in a whisper.

'All of us actually,' the horse-headed demon replied. 'We cannot understand why, but you only seem to be able to communicate with myself.' There was a small pause, before he hurriedly added. 'Don't try to speak out loud again. We may not be able to prevent the surge.'

There was another bout of silence…for Koji at least. He couldn't hear Il Blud's response of: 'we technically didn't stop the surge at all; we just snatched him up in the middle of it.' He also failed to hear Zombie Master's indignant: 'What do you mean _just_?'

'How about you two shut it?' Sleepy Beauty threatened (also deaf to the ears of the warrior of light). 'Before I tell Cold Enchanter about your little crush on her.'

'I don't-' Zombie Master and Il Blud both began, before getting the message. Cold Enchanter may be…cold on the outside, but she was a formidable woman, especially against boys who claimed to have a crush on her, whether directly or through the grape vine.

'Enough,' Mekuzi snapped.

'Huh?' Koji…thought-spoke. 'Enough what?'

'I was talking to the rest of the idiots that make up Koichi's deck.'

'Hey! We're of use!' They exploded, causing the very dark air around them to shake.

'Anyway.' The demon sounded a little waspish. 'Spoken words incite some sort of defence, but we spirits are incapable of direct speech and that is why we are safe. You and I, for some reason, can also communicate in this manner, but the spirits that make up your deck weren't able to cross the rift.

'Spirits? Rift?'

'The rift between consciousness,' Mekuzi explained in reverse order. 'Into the mind of another person, so to speak. And all decks are made up of spirits. They just don't all communicate with the living plane.'

'So…I'm in Koichi's mind?' The thought was a little muddled as it echoed around him, namely because he had to consistently remind himself to keep his mouth shut…and that invited other thoughts as well, primarily how Takuya would deal with such a situation. And then there were all the thoughts already floating around in his mind: the confusion, the worry…

'So to speak,' Mekuzi explained, and the wind whistled around them. And then more hurriedly: 'Clear your mind!'

Koji closed his eyes, even if their senses had previously been shut, and breathed deeply, trying to slip into the calm meditative state. Somehow, the wind seemed ominous.

But banishing the thoughts from his mind was far more difficult than usual.

'Hurry,' the spirit urged.

That didn't help either, but still he tried to shut the world out.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

* * *

><p>Another man had joined who was apparently the Princess of the Moon, one that Mars introduced as Prince Darien from Earth.<p>

'His kingdom, the Golden Kingdom, is in Elysion,' she explained. 'Earth is one of the alliances of the Silver Millennium, but…' She stemmed off, glancing at the people mingling about in their separate uniforms.

'Is there some sort of feud?' JP asked, following her gaze.

'We're not sure.' It was Venus who answered, sounding uncharacteristically serious. 'There is trouble stemming on earth. A peasant whose name is Beryl rising up and collecting gatherers. Elysion is under siege.' She looked at the couple skating slowly in the middle, immersed in a serious conversation. 'Prince Darien will likely have to return to earth to reassure his people, but the Queens doubts he will reach his home in time. This Beryl is rising up too quickly. Too easily she is turning the Earth's army against the Silver Millennium.'

'Does that mean they'll be an uprising?'

Mars shrugged nonchalantly, but they could easily spot the strain wrinkling her forehead. 'We haven't had one for hundreds of years,' she replied. 'Our jobs as part of the Court and princesses and representatives of our own respective kingdoms is to quell such uprisings and keep the peace as best we can. We are the Moon's primary defence. Others guard the outer rim. We seldom meet with them.'

'Fighting with what?' Takuya asked curiously. 'Wind?'

Luckily, Zoe wasn't in earshot, but the brunette still wound up with singed hair.

'You shouldn't make Mars made,' Venus said, cracking a smile. 'She'll roast ya…and kick your butt.'

'Hey.' The warrior of fire held out his palms. 'I didn't mean anything by it. Anyone who knows Zoe knows girls can kick butt.'

'Well…' This time, the raven smirked, standing and offering a hand. 'Shall we see?'

Takuya realised he was going to be very sore afterwards.

* * *

><p>There was a sigh of relief whistling through the now quiet air, and Koji opened his eyes again.<p>

'Keep your thoughts clear,' Mekuzi's voice warned within his mind. 'Otherwise that can happen again.'

'But I don't quite understand.' Confusion was still a major aspect of his thoughts, but he quelled the smoke by thinking instead of the finer techniques of his kendo lesson, and the waves on the shore. It made the substance in his head sharper and more precise, rather than the muddled mess of incongruities.

'I know,' the spirit replied. 'That's why you're here.'

* * *

><p>'So you cannot stay?' Princess Serena asked, her voice a balance between sweet and sharp as her white dress billowed gently in the slight wind as she slowly glided upon the ice.<p>

'No, I cannot,' the other replied. 'This Queen Beryl is more of a threat than we thought.' He paused a moment, his voice quaking with emotion. 'I received a message from Elysion a little while ago. I have not yet told your mother.' The Prince, clad in a suit of black, blue and red, took a deep breath. 'The land is falling to her evil. The palace still stands, but for how long I cannot know. I must leave soon, but even then I may be too late to drive this wickedness out of my kingdom. My father will need my help nonetheless. But…'

'What is it?' The tender hand, wearing a fine bracelet of pearl, slowly caressed his face.

'If the earth falls,' Darien replied. 'The rest of the universe will be in danger too.'

The Princess gasped in horror. 'The moon as well?'

'Especially the moon. This Beryl hates anything beautiful and happy, and she knows the moon is at the centre of the Silver Millennium.' He closed his eyes and turned away slightly, trying to ignore the glistening blue eyes. 'You know I'll do my best not to let that happen, but…I may not come back.'

She pressed into his embrace, taking comfort in the heartbeat within his chest.

'You must come back,' she said softly, tears starting to fall gently onto the soft moon-made armour. 'Remember, you have my heart.'

'And you, mine.'

They embraced fully, perhaps for the last time as the ice glistened around them like a perfectly carved crystal, and others skated, keeping their distance from the Prince and Princess, both out of fear and mistrust and a looming war, and out of respect.

'When will you be leaving?' The question was muffled into the breastplate.

'At sundown. The path will be faster then.'

A pause, where the wind sang its sorrowful song for two lovers about to be split apart.

'May the light of the moon guide your way.' There was silence for a moment, before Serena added: 'I'll be waiting for you.'


	33. Eclipse of the Moon

Author's Notes

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 33<span>

Eclipse of the Moon

They had found Koji slumped over the still form of his brother, hands locked but otherwise both were in a deep sleep. Takuya tried shaking the younger of the two awake to no avail, but Serenity had arrived on the scene soonafter and simply bidden them to make the other as comfortable as possible.

'He is fine,' she said softly. 'He looks for his brother's soul, and will awake when it is found.'

* * *

><p>'I'm supposed to find Koichi in this?' Koji asked silently. 'I can't see a thing.'<p>

'How typical of light,' Sleepy Beauty scoffed. 'You have other senses you know.'

Mekuzi let out a slight noise of irritation, but seeing the point of the statement, repeated it in a more polite manner.

That caused the younger twin to thumb through them in his head. 'So that's sound, touch, taste and physical sensation?' There was a pause and the invisible wind picked up as he thought about that.

'Calm,' Mekuzi instructed.

'Right,' the other sighed. It was hard to constantly remember that. 'The wind picked up again.'

'That is no wind,' the spirit responded.

'Huh?' Confusion blaring, and the not-wind grew stronger.

'It is darkness,' Mekuzi explained quickly, and the whirlwind dimmed a little. 'In a sense. More specifically it's the threads that tie the soul down.'

'So why is it pushing me away?'

'It doesn't do anything because we do not physically exist in your world-would you guys shut up!'

Sleepy Beauty and Zombie Master, about to start yelling (or talking) at each other, froze and backed off as Koji blinked blindly.

'I was talking to Sleepy Beauty and Zombie Master,' the demon justified. 'Anyway…these…umm…'

'Tendrils?' Several voices suggested (although not one of them reached Koji's ears).

'Tendrils,' Mekuzi repeated. 'To find your brother, you'll need to grab one of them.'

To his credit, the warrior of light didn't question how he was going to catch something he couldn't even see. He just listened closely, drawing a mental map in his head before a hand shot out and grabbed a thin wisp of nothing…

* * *

><p>He still couldn't see anything…but he was suddenly overwhelmed with feeling. Laughter…childish laughter it seems. Baby cries. The rattling of a toy, like the sort that was still sitting up in the attic. Seriously, his father packed the thing away every time they had moved, and then left the box up in the attic, full with a baby blanket, a pair of mitts, a homemade beanie, a bottle and a rattle. It hadn't made much sense to him, seeing as he'd far outgrown the lot before his parents had gotten divorced. It was only after he had met Koichi and they had talked to the two halves of their families…who met in the foyer of the hospital since the staff had alerted them both to the elder twin's accident. Somehow, the fact that all of them, even Satomi who had been put into a rather awkward situation and yet had handled it admirably, gathered around Koichi's bedside as he slept off the effects of his fall, had a calming effect that probably wouldn't have been present in any other scenario. They couldn't yell because they'd wake up an injured boy in dire need of rest. They couldn't leave for the spell that held them there. So they had to stay and talk quietly, and that was exactly what they did.<p>

And to see Koichi's eyes brimming once more with tears when he woke up and saw them all together served as the sealing of the deal.

It was only after that fateful meeting that he realised the subject of the contents of that box hadn't belonged to him, but his brother.

* * *

><p>The wisp suddenly slipped through his fingers and he was clutching thin air.<p>

'Wrong one,' Mekuzi's voice echoed.

'Now you tell me,' Koji grumbled.

'We don't know,' the spirit replied. 'We know one of those tendrils link to the present Koichi, but we don't know which. The rest are memories and dreams.'

'So that's what Pluto meant.'

'Pluto,' Mekuzi repeated. 'Guardian of Space and Time and Keeper of the Gate Keys. She controls the paths across dimensions.'

That made Koji make the motion of looking at his wrist, much like people did when checking the time, but of course in the darkness he couldn't make out the numbers on the gadget that had brought them to this. 'I can't believe this little old thing has already done so much.'

He almost thought trouble, but reconsidered it. In that brief blare though, Mekuzi easily understood.

'Try another one,' he said instead.

'Wait a sec…' the younger twin stared blindly up. 'You said this Pluto controls dimension hopping. So how does this thing…' He held up a wrist.

'Perhaps it is the science of time-travelling that is the reincarnation of Chronos,' the spirit mused. 'I think the answer to that question may become more clearer at a later stage.'

For someone who was hand-waving, he sounded rather sure of himself.

'Grab a tendril,' the demon instructed again.

Koji listened, then reached out, fingers curling around another wisp.

* * *

><p>There was a hint of poignant sadness in the air. Someone stifling crying; a woman. The smell of ash. Something gleaming white. Then the smell of wet soil, and something cold in his hand. It was trembling too, he noted. His eyes were suddenly dry, burning in the dim wind. There were whispers of respect and sorrow, unknown people patting his shoulder. His head seemed to hang perpetually down, and then afterwards he was in someone's embrace. It felt like nothing he'd ever felt before. The closest perhaps was when his father hugged him with feeling, or the first time he felt his mother's embrace…as far as he remembered.<p>

And then there was a whiff of incense, and he understood. This was Koichi's grandmother's funeral. So that embrace must have been from their mother.

He was just reflecting on the fact that the two embraces felt slightly different when the thread-like substance slipped from his fingers again.

* * *

><p>The not-wind seemed somewhat wilder.<p>

'What did you feel?' Mekuzi sounded somewhat worried.

'His grandmother's funeral I think.'

'Not yours?'

Koji paused somewhat at that. 'I never met her,' was the clearest thought, along with a bunch of muddling and the not-winds growing even wilder.

'I'm sorry I asked.'

'I don't think it matters all that much,' Il Blud pointed out, again unheard to Koji. 'But Koji better hurry up.'

Mekuzi relayed the message, and Koji snatched at another thread, catching it around his pinky finger.

* * *

><p>He suddenly felt a few feet tall, and he could swear his ears were on fire. There was some giggling and cooing, a truckload of murmuring voices, a camera flash…and predominant awkwardness.<p>

It was only when he heard what the voices were saying that he understood, and then his cheeks were flaming too.

'Aww, Koichi's got a crush. That's _so_ cute.'

Luckily, the tendril slipped from his fingers at that moment. Or perhaps he let go. He wasn't too sure.

* * *

><p>'Why are you blushing?' Mekuzi sounded like he was forcing himself to ask the question. 'These idiots want to know,' he added immediately.<p>

'Oh…' He fought the blush away, noting suddenly it seemed calmer. 'My brother had a crush. I'm guessing it was one of those little kid ones, because it felt…well, young.'

'Hmmph,' the demon grumbled. 'An opportunity for gossip. Zombie Master isn't going to shut up about this.'

'It seems calmer,' the human noted, before blinking blindly. 'Hold on. The sadder memories are what's making it wilder. And the happier memories make it calmer.'

'Your thoughts also play a role in that,' Mekuzi reminded. 'You should pick another.'

'How many are there?'

'Too many to count.'

There was a pause. 'If I grab more than one-'

'You could make a serious mess of things. One of them will snap. If you snap the wrong ones, it could be disastrous.'

Koji took a deep breath, before reaching for a single tendril, plucking somewhat like a violin.

* * *

><p>He blinked in the darkness. Was he even holding a tendril? He looked down at his hand, before remembering the futility of the motion…so of course he was rather surprised when he saw a brief glimmer of white where he assumed his closed fist to be. He followed the string, almost like a spider's web, to find it joining other strings in the like and tying into a cocoon-like shape in the middle, white with shadows within the holes.<p>

He blinked again at the tendril he held, before sprinting towards the congregation.

His brother's name was the only thing in his mind. That was probably why it echoed all around him.

He reached the cocoon, gently fingering the webbing…before find it as hard as glass as the white threads curled instinctively away from his touch.

In a moment, images flashed in his head. All of which he recognised except the ones in the lab; it just wasn't from his perspective. The vectors. The experimentation. The blood. The tears. The killing instinct fuelled by circumstance and word…and they wondered why the Diclonii were murders, he seethed. Anyone would after being treated like _that_. And poor Koichi who could stand the thought of the blood but not that devouring and uncontrollable rage…

'Koichi!' he cried aloud (accidently and unable to stop himself). 'You've got to be in there. I've found you now. You're fine. I know you-' He broke off as black tendrils began to wrap around the luminescent white ones, preventing him access.

That was when he remembered Mekuzi's warning, and cursed himself, before threading his fingers into one of the tendrils that were a part of the cocoon and holding tight.

It took him a moment to realise he had seized a black thread instead of a white.

It was almost ironic, he thought to himself. Black and white. Yin and Yang. Everything thought Koichi as being sweet and gentle; they never saw the real person buried underneath. They didn't see the complexities of his personality, the interplay of threads woven together with fine precision.

He was a person who understood death better than any of them. He was also a person who couldn't condone pain. Not the sort of pain one got from running too fast and getting a stitch, or the sort one got when trying to help someone else. Not even, he realised slowly, the pain that he had just felt distantly, the pain from the facility. Because there was a sort of purpose attached to it, no matter how inhumane that purpose was. It was true that most of the scientists weren't interested in finding the cure, but even they were exploring the race for purposes of their own. It was when the pain was entirely unnecessary…but even that depended on the eye of the beholder. Apparently the perspective had been warped at some stage.

'No,' he said to himself within his mind, taking extra care not to let the words escape his lips. 'It's not pointless. You have us.'

Then he blinked again as the white threads unravelled slightly…before the black tightened.

It was then that he finally understood.

'Be selfish for once Koichi,' he said. This time allowed. 'Forget about us. It doesn't matter if we see you in pain or any other way. What matters is that you're true to yourself. That's it.'

There was a lot of other things he wanted to say, all muddled up in his mind, but his thoughts somehow managed to fill in the gaps. Or he hoped that was what it meant when the white threads suddenly burst apart in a blinding flash of light. He clung to his own like a lifeline…then watched in horror as the black raged, angry at him, driving him out.

No, he couldn't go! He hadn't gotten his brother yet!

'Mekuzi is going to slaughter me with his scythe,' Koji found himself thinking wryly, trying to hold his ground. There was no doing so though, and to his horror he felt one of the threads fall apart within his fist…before he was spiralling back into darkness.

But which thread was it? The white? Or the black?

* * *

><p>It seemed like an odd time to have a ball, but they didn't question it. Most of the dancers were strained, particularly the men who kept on looking out upon the earth. Princess Serena, after greeting the attendees as was proper, had drifted onto the balcony and was now, in her beautiful gown, staring at the home planet of her beloved prince with her hands clasped over her heart.<p>

The remaining legendary warriors were inside, but all of them were hovering awkwardly. The boys were still in their tunics, although Venus had somehow managed to find masks for all of them. She had immediately thrown a Dragon one at Takuya, a bear one at Tommy, a Beetle one at JP and a butterfly one for Zoe. Serena also wore a butterfly one, but hers was different.

Venus had also brought two spares, and they all glimpsed the wolf and the lion before the late teen shrugged and took them away again, before returning with a rose pink evening gown for Zoe.

She had blinked at the dress before fingering its fine silk. 'I'll ruin it,' she protested. 'I've got two left feet when it comes to dancing.'

'Me too,' the other blonde replied, before taking off as she was hailed.

'Oh boy,' she had muttered, which led her to stand awkwardly as Tommy, the only one who would not be out of place, skipped with the other youngsters. That was until JP offered his arm.

She stared at him, as the boy blushed and then shrugged. 'We might as well dance,' he said. 'And it's not like I can dance either.'

Mars had apparently whisked away Takuya at some point during that brief exchange, so she had no problems at all accepting.

Apparently, both of them though could dance better than they thought.

'I haven't stepped on your toes yet, have I?' the warrior of wind asked, still a little anxious.

'Nope,' the other replied. 'And yours?'

'Fine except for these heels.' They had been with the gown, although Venus said she wasn't in charge of the shoes. 'They're rather comfortable for heels-'

She cut off at JP's wince. 'Oh, I'm so sorry,' she cried, removing her foot from the other's big toe.

'I'm going to have a bruise there in the morning,' the warrior of thunder responded sheepishly. 'I thought the wind was supposed to be graceful.'

She smiled at him, and if it had been at the beginning of their adventure in the Digital World, JP would have melted into a pile of goo. Zoe, on her part, was glad the other hadn't said it was nothing.

Until she registered the second part of the comment and whacked her friend on the head.


	34. Ceres' Warrior

Author's Notes

And this concludes the Sailor Moon arc. The next one is…a surprise.

Ceres is a dwarf planet, the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system.

Ceres is the goddess of fertility and agriculture, amongst other things. Like the other Sailor Scouts, I've taken her powers from the legends of her and her Greek counterpart, Dementer.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think. Please?

And there will be no update next Thursday. I'll try to get one the following Thursday, either for this or the next chapter of Meetings, but no guarantee. Exams.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 34<span>

Ceres' Warrior

Koji awoke with a start, finding one hand clutching his brother's warm and relaxed fingers. His entire body felt warm, and he blinked blurrily at the high ceiling until it came into focus before he turned to stare at the sheets that covered them both.

No wonder he was warm. He was lying next to his brother. In the same bed no less…not that that was unusual. They did so all the time when Koichi slept over at the younger twin's place. When in the Kimura household, they both slept on the floor, forgoing the futon neatly rolled up and tucked into a spare corner (typically under the desk but it sometimes didn't quite fit). It wasn't that Koichi was disorganised. It was just that sometimes he had a ton of books, and it was, for whatever reason, convenient to put them under the desk. He claimed so he'd remember to return them…and they wouldn't distract him whilst studying. If they went on top of the desk, he'd read them a hundred times and never give them back.

He did wonder for a moment though what he was doing there, before he shot up in a panic, quickly scrambling to check on his twin. The other still breathed calmly in deeply, evidently still fast asleep, and the younger twin sat back on his heels.

'Mekuzi?' he asked aloud. 'Are you there?'

There was no answer, but his brother's index finger twitched slightly within the hand that was still clutching it like a lifeline.

The crystal around the elder twin's neck dimmed and died as Koji slowly relaxed his fingers with a sigh of relief.

'Thank goodness.'

And then he leaned forward and embraced Koichi, savouring the sound of life within his ribs.

* * *

><p>Serena stared rather worriedly at the earth. It seemed to be darker somehow, and she couldn't help but think that a person had to be very pitiful if they felt they had to take the beauty of such a bright kingdom. The rest of her worried about that kingdom, for not only Elysion but the entire earth was her Prince's Domain, and she knew he dearly cared both for his people and his land. Darien had departed the previous night, and the setting of the sun had signified their first full day apart for a long time. Whenever he visited his home planet on previous occasions, she had gone with him. For the rest of the time, he stayed with her.<p>

And it was a magnificent ball he was missing too.

'Princess?'

Half-gasping, she spun around to meet the man in the tuxedo.

'May I have this dance?'

Darien, her Darien, smiled at her tenderly.

She returned it, taking his palm.

'You may,' she said formally, before sweeping herself into his embrace.

As they swayed slowly in time with the music, they talked.

'There are whispers,' Serena murmured. 'Horrible whispers.'

Darien put a finger to her tender lips. 'I've heard,' he said with equal quietness. 'Your mother explained to me. And she knows I'm not a spy. She's asked me to stay and help defend her people.'

'And your kingdom.'

He shook his head wordlessly. 'Beryl is focusing her efforts on the moon. What's left of the court of Elysion has fled with its important treasures. If she is defeated, then the place can be rebuilt in the years to come. But we don't have the means to defeat her.'

'And do we?' the Princess of the Moon Kingdom asked.

'I hope so Serena. This is our best chance to defeat her. We _must_.'

The music faded and they stood silently on the balcony, turning to stare at the darkening earth.

* * *

><p>'It's rude to interrupt,' Zoe scolded, hands on her lips as she loomed over the warrior of flame.<p>

'I'm doing no such thing,' the other spluttered, quickly making his escape to the balcony, before making to back away when he noticed Serena and her companion.

He didn't make it all the way back inside when there were two cries behind him, and he whipped around again.

Then he gaped. The earth was being covered by a huge shadow.

* * *

><p>'Go Serena.' Darien tried to push his love away, towards what would hopefully be safety.<p>

'No!' she cried, clinging to him. 'I'm staying with you.'

'No! You must go!' the other protested, prying himself loose from her grip before readying her sword. On the tip of the balcony, he turned to look at her once more. 'Farewell Serena.'

She took a step forward, lips parting as if to speak, before reconsidering and saying nothing. Behind her, she could hear the cries as the army of the moon kingdom rushed out, and her court, warriors and defenders and princesses of their own kingdom, cast off their gowns to reveal the fighting attire underneath.

She clasped her hands together and prayed for all of their safety, feeling the power of the moon.

'Please, sweet moon. Lend your strength to these brave people.'

* * *

><p>It was suddenly chaos. Not quite pandemonium though.<p>

Zoe stepped away from JP in the middle of their third dance as men drew the weapons they carried with them and the majority of the woman (and all the children except Tommy) fled into the safe-house underground. Some of the women remained to fight, the princesses of the solar system amongst them, throwing off their gowns to reveal the sailor fuku uniform underneath as they hurried aside.

'What's going on?' she asked by enlarge.

Takuya spotted the pair in the throng and came over, as did Tommy. 'I think it's that Beryl woman,' he panted. 'There's this huge shadow, and then this army appeared out of no-where!'

Already, they could hear the clattering of swords and shields.

'Should we help them?' Tommy asked, fingering the axe he had been given and being thankful it wasn't a sword. Takuya and JP weren't so fortunate, although the former, thanks to EmperorGreymon, did actually know how to use a sword with some proficiency. JP on the other hand did not, and all he had gotten was a brief training session earlier that day by a Princess Uranus who'd briefly stopped by to give a report, only having to wait for an audience with the Queen. She'd, in the meantime, spotted his rather pathetic attempts to train himself.

Takuya fingered the hilt of his own sword, before JP stopped them. 'Hold on.'

Both brunettes turned to look at him.

'Why?' Takuya exclaimed. 'People are already dying out there!'

'Exactly,' the other responded. 'And we could die if we go out there too. So at least think it through before you just rush out.'

'They've been kind to us,' the blonde said quietly. 'Even if they distrust the Earth's people thanks to Beryl. Queen Serenity is going to give her life to save her people. She'll seal them all inside the Silver Crystal and send them to earth. This entire place will be destroyed. If we can do something, I think we should try.'

Takuya nodded. Even thinking it through wouldn't change this decision.

'You have nothing to fight with,' JP said, turning on her. 'You can't use a sword any better than I can.'

'We're fine in that aspect,' Takuya pointed out, before turning to JP. 'Look, you and Zoe go warn Koji…and wake him up if he's still asleep. They're going to need to know. Maybe you'll find something in the castle that can help. If not, you can get everyone else out. No-one's come yet.'

It was true.

'Just you two be careful,' they both said.

Tommy grinned. 'Are big-brother JP and big-sister Zoe going to get married?'

'What? No,' they exclaimed simultaneously.

'Seriously,' Takuya gave him an odd look. 'What gave you that idea?'

'Their twin talk.'

The eldest sighed. 'That's got nothing to do with marriage,' he pointed out. 'Now get going kiddo. And don't forget to ice them good. Hmm…maybe I can find a hammer somewhere.'

He certainly was better with that. Or a mallet. A single knock to…knock them senseless. Yep. Perfect. Koji could have his sword.

* * *

><p>Koji was starting to wonder if he'd just imagined things when clatters and clangs from outside caught his attention.<p>

'What the-?'

He slipped out of the bed and made his way quickly to the window…before gaping in shock. A gigantic shadow was hovering over the earth. A shadow with arms and two red eyes to be precise. Reminded him of the first time he had "met" Cherubimon: when he had come to Duskmon's rescue.

Then he stared some more when the…shadowy thing swallowed up a ball of fire, light, ice and thunder.

When he looked down, it was worse.

There was a war going on.

The next second, he was back at the bed as Koichi shifted slightly, mumbling reluctance. Like he did when he didn't want to get up.

'Brother? Koichi?' Then he winced at the clashes from somewhere below.

Koichi didn't want another war, he remembered. And truth be told, he didn't either. But it looked like they'd finally gotten a full-fledged war after all. And it had taken them a quarter of the trip to get there.

Somehow, he had a feeling the others weren't going to leave the kingdom to its fate. No doubt they were somewhere in the throng, fighting.

He didn't even get a chance to think about what he should do before the whole tower shook and a piece of the ceiling fell to the ground.

He quickly pulled Koichi off the bed when the second debris landed where the other had been sleeping moments before.

'Koichi!' He yelled in a panic. 'Come on, we have to get out of here.'

The other mumbled and shifted a little in his chest, but looked too far from consciousness to be able to run with him. And he couldn't possibly carry the other fast enough.

'If only I was Gallade,' he said out loud. 'Then I could teleport us to safety.'

He looked as his wrist, but the numbers stayed stubbornly the same.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard another thunk. 'Come on,' he muttered to himself. He really hoped he could do it. He ignored the next thunk, almost hitting his head. 'Come on,' he muttered again.

* * *

><p>'Koji! Oh, Koichi!'<p>

It was Zoe's voice that prompted him to open his eyes, and the warrior of light blinked at their four friends in the ballroom, making to go off in two separate directions.

The blonde put a hand to her heart. 'We were just about to go after you,' she explained. 'It's great to know you guys are safe.'

'It was definitely close,' Koji confessed. 'The ceiling was coming down.' Then he blinked as JP handed him his sword.

'I can barely do anything with this,' the warrior of thunder explained. 'Just not kill myself accidently.'

'I can still use those Contractor powers,' Koji pointed out.

'With remuneration,' Tommy reminded. 'And I don't see water around here.'

'There's saliva, Zoe pointed out.

'Oh right.' He tried it, and no-one bothered grimacing. Desperate times called for desperate measures after all. 'Seriously, whose dumb idea was it to have such stupid payments?'

Koji shrugged. His was marginally better, tapping his foot. Technically, he could manage the footwork in a fight, but…

'What about Koichi?'

They all looked at each other. Koichi just shifted a little, and the crystal swung loose.

At the same time, there was a shout from the doorway, and the next second Takuya had his sword parrying another as Tommy swung the axe.

'There's more,' he cried out, leaving Takuya to take a new one. JP gritted his teeth before picking up the clumsy weapon and bonking a guy over the head with it.

'Whoops,' he said sheepishly. 'Sorry 'bout that.'

'JP!' Zoe shrieked, backing the twins away. 'Don't apologize you idiot.'

'Right, right.' Then he swung the sword again, hitting the post instead before ducking under the next opponent's blow before Takuya's knocked him over.

'Thanks,' the eldest said.

'No problem,' the other replied, swinging the sword again. 'Geeze, where are they coming from?'

They'd get overwhelmed soon; that much was obvious. So Koji threw his light whip into the mix too (there was no point in moving seeing as he didn't have a weapon and he'd be nuts to try and salvage one), but the problem was that there wasn't a whole lot of light for him to use. The army would still be able to break free.

Koichi still hadn't come to.

* * *

><p>Zoe gritted her teeth. It felt just like when Grumblemon had taken her human spirit. Being powerless while watching the others fight.<p>

Behind her, the crystal suddenly fell from its chord, clattering to the ground.

'Huh?' She spun around, before quickly snatching it up. She knew they had power after all. Either Mercury or Queen Serenity had mentioned it.

She clasped it firmly in both hands, bringing it right over her heart. 'Please,' she murmured softly. 'Give me the power to help them.'

It glowed an earth colour under her fingers, and suddenly words blared into her mind.

'Ceres Crystal Power! Transform!'

She raised the right fist with the crystal, watching it form into a small handheld rod before it expanded into a tri-point staff (it rather resembled a hoe actually). Her clothes melted off her body as the ground left her feet, swirling, before ribbons enveloped her body, fusing to form a new outfit. A fuchsia top which sloped down her waists but left the stomach area unguarded. Slim shorts which looked rather like her sport uniform (seriously). Lighter stockings underneath, and boots that went past her knees. All following Kazemon's colour scheme she couldn't help but notice. She also had gloves of a darker material, the same colour as the boots, rising almost up to her shoulders, and her hair billowed behind her, lengthening a little. It was only when it blowed in front of her face at the end of the transfiguration that she realised the tips had been stained pink, and tied off with a purple ribbon.

For a moment everybody gaped at her, before she lifted her hoe. 'I am defender of the sweet and vibrant air,' she declared. 'And of the ties of friendship and loyalty that bind me to the ground...Sailor Ceres!'

A sword came at her, and she parried it, leaping into the fray.

The hoe felt natural in her hands; it swung with the same ease as Lowemon used his staff. But they kept on coming, and her friends were tiring. It was easy to see. There wasn't enough light for Koji to keep going. Tommy's swipes were missing. Takuya almost got nailed to the wall…twice. And JP was having the worst luck with an ill-fitting weapon…although he'd managed to snatch a shield and had resorted to bashing his opponents over the head with it. But the same power wasn't in there anymore.

She raised her hoe again, this time drawing a pattern into the sky. 'Green Shoot!' she cried out, calling the trees and plants to answer her call and lend her power. They did, and soon a green energy orb had collected at the edge of the three points. 'Go,' she ordered. 'Reenergize the fighters for the Moon Kingdom.'

The green glow spread, slowly bringing with it a second wind, and the clashes began once more.

Until the roof was suddenly blasted.

'Ha ha hah,' someone, a woman, cackled. 'So the little princess has one last protector, does she?'

They all looked up, still half preoccupied.

'Beryl!' Zoe gasped, being the only one to have watched the Sailor Moon anime.

The peasant witch smirked. 'Yes twit,' she scorned. 'I see you know who I am.' She raised her sharp nails. 'Then why don't you do us all a favour and disappear.'

She blasted the roof again, and this time it fell from the blow.

Koji closed his eyes.

'Tell me you're teleporting!' JP cried.

'I'm trying,' the other yelled. 'But it's not working this time.'

Then the debris suddenly halted in midair.

'What?' Beryl screeched, before blasting again. More debris piled up, until she was looking at a pile of stone. 'Ha, the lot of you are buried like worms.'

Then her eyes met that of the Princess of the Moon.

'That little twit!'

* * *

><p>The six of them were actually very much alive. The debris had halted before crushing them, but now it trembled as if arms were holding them up and straining.<p>

'Koji?' Takuya asked from somewhere in the almost blackness. There just enough to make out each other, and their eyes shining in three different colours but the same emotion.

'Nope,' Koji shook his head, before looking down and gasping. 'Koichi! You're awake.'

The older twin definitely was, but his attention was focused on keeping the debris from falling atop them, so he couldn't spare any for a comment. That wasn't to say there weren't any comments, as there were mumbles of relief from all around and Zoe, back in her gown, felt around for her hoe before noting the difference.

'Hey, I'm back to me.' Then she paused. 'Don't you lot dare make a comment about that outfit.' She knew full well it was practically a push-up bra with straps down the side…but then, none of _them_ had commented in the digital world.

'We wouldn't dream of it,' Takuya and JP simultaneously replied, before Tommy gasped. 'What is it?' they asked together.

'Look.' He held up his wrist, where the watch-like device was glowing. At the same time, the debris shifted a little closer and Koichi gritted his teeth, one hand (Koji just noticed) sitting above the younger twin's chest as if deriving support. He was still in the other's lap after all.

'Good timing,' Takuya breathed in relief, as the blue swallowed them up. 'As long as we don't bring this mess along with us.'

The debris came crashing down into the empty space.


	35. Agents

Author's Notes

And it's…Ceres, Celestial Legend. Some of you may know it by its Japanese name, Ayashi no Ceres. It's set before the events of the series though, using a different reincarnation than Aya Mikage. You'll find out who soon enough.

This arc's going to be a little short, because it basically sets up the next arc and ties off some of the previous ones. So it's, truth be told, somewhat of a filler arc…with a twist obviously.

I meant to get this up yesterday, but something was weird with my internet. Wasn't letting me log in.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 35<span>

Agents

Takuya winced as the sun hit his closed eyelids. 'Five more minutes,' he groaned, imaging his nice _comfortable_ bed, before suddenly sitting upright. _Why the heck is my bed _wet_?_

He blinked, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, brain registering the damp grass they were all sprawled on.

'Oh,' he said aloud. 'We're in a park.' Then he shot to his feet and stared at the sky. _Whew, no falling projectiles. Talk about good timing…again._

Once that was confirmed, he scanned the others. Yep, there was Tommy sprawled on JP's stomach, Zoe a few feet away and the twins on his other side, Koichi still in Koji's arms and Koji glaring at him.

Hold on a sec. Glaring?

The brunet "eeped" and jumped a little, before returning the glare. 'Was that necessary?' he asked, exasperated.

'Considering you woke us up while talking to _yourself_, yes it was,' the other replied, face softening as he looked at his unconscious brother.

'Who's "us"?' Takuya shot right back seeing as no-one else was awake, before looking to the elder twin as well. 'How is he?'

'No idea.' The younger twin's voice was gentler too as he lightly shook his brother, only to receive a reluctant mumble in response.

Takuya couldn't help the smile that spread over his face as he flopped back down. 'It's so nice and peaceful out here,' he sighed, before stifling a yawn. 'Why the heck am I so tired?'

'Probably from swinging that sword around,' Koji replied.

'Sheesh Koji. You could lay off the insults.'

Koji gave him a look that told him he had said something particularly stupid.

'Ahh…' It took a while to click. 'That wasn't an insult, was it?'

'You think?' the other retorted, before closing his eyes. 'Well, someone ought to keep watch.'

'Like who? I'll bet we're all knackered.'

Takuya blinked a third time when he received no response. Once he found the reason why, he had some difficulty in stifling a laugh.

Then another yawn escaped and he let his own eyes slip closed.

* * *

><p>A collection of groans accompanied the sound of muffled voices. Takuya grumbled something nonsensical under his breath before forcing his eyes open again – and shooting to his feet in alarm upon sighting the black suits. It took a few precious minutes to realise they weren't the SWAT team, considering Koichi was apparently having a discussion with them rather than them pointing their guns at the teen. A few more blinks as he pulled himself to a sitting position, he found JP and Koji looking somewhat bewildered, although the former looked rather defensive and had shifted so he was shielding both Tommy and Zoe with his form.<p>

_Did I miss something?_

Apparently he had. Particularly when a gun came out, only to be sliced in half with a yell of shock.

'What the hell?' the one who had drawn the weapon cursed, rubbing his hand. 'C-Genomer.'

Takuya watched the elder twin's form tense. 'I'm nothing of the sort,' he snapped, and the brunet had to wonder if Koichi had been possessed by an alien since the last time he'd been conscious, or if he even knew what he was talking about for that matter. _He'd_ certainly never heard of a C-Genomer.

One of Koichi's hands was in his jacket pocket; the clothes he'd gotten from Kohta were underneath. Apparently, he wasn't going to be getting his own back. At least his hat had been in his back-pack, and that was with Koji, currently being used as a pillow…or a beanbag. Steel caught the sun's rays and shone; it was on purpose, because the men in the black suits were focused on that hand.

Of course, Takuya knew what was responsible. The device that counted off the rounds before home. _Was Koichi seriously going to try and bluff his way out of this?_ he wondered to himself. _And what's the problem anyway?_

Apparently, the answer to the first question was "yes", because the men certainly looked apprehensive. But why the heck were they concerned when it was one kid against five full-grown men…unless the rest of them counted too. If they think one guy's fast enough to pull a knife on them without then seeing, then they probably assumed the rest were as good.

Unfortunately, they'd find out soon enough that none of them had such convenient weapons, and only Koji and Tommy out of them could pull something out of thin air. From Koichi's next words though, it seemed like that would be a bad idea.

'Maybe your eyes are too slow…or am I too fast for you?' There was something dangerous in the tone. Something _different_ too. Something that was always there, but was missing now. A look at Koji's face told Takuya the other had realised it too…and knew a little more.

'Is that a threat?' another of the men asked rhetorically, before huffing. 'Look kid, we just want your blonde friend.'

_Zoe?_ Takuya blinked, expression dumbfounded. _They want Zoe? What in the world for?_

'Wrong person,' Koichi said softly, still with that dangerous edge. The hand never left the pocket and his eyes never left the group.

It was almost inconceivable that one teenager was capable of frightening five fully grown and armed men into backing off, but evidently, it was possible. Of course, that was reckoning without all the crazy stuff they'd been through and the crazy powers they'd gotten…such as the vectors.

Although Takuya wasn't exactly sure how much of a role they played, particularly considering the crash that suddenly echoed without cause.

There were a few restless murmurs, before the man in the middle faced forward again – then snapped back as fire lit up a few blocks away.

'You had better be right,' he snapped. 'Or next time, we're hunting both you _and_ your little girlfriend down with reinforcements.'

And then they were gone, slipping into the shadows.

Takuya stood, brushing the dry leaves off his clothes while ignoring the stains.

'What-' he began, but Koichi threw out an arm to stop him, still facing away from them all. It was another few minutes, agonising almost, before he lowered it.

'They're out of earshot,' he said quietly.

_I'm not going to even ask how he knows that_, the brunet decided. 'What was that all about?' he asked instead. 'What's a C-Genomer?'

'I don't know.'

There was a moment's pause before Zoe spoke up from behind JP. 'What did they want?'

'They're looking for the medium of Ceres.' The elder twin, seemingly unconsciously, drew himself together, arms wrapping above his chest.

'Ceres?' Zoe repeated, before suddenly giving a cry of alarm and patting on the ground…before JP moved (well, more like jumped in shock at the cry) and the blonde spotted the cord around Koichi's neck, and the rare metal crystal hanging from it. 'Oh.' She sighed with relief. 'There it is.'

Everyone turned to her as she blushed somewhat in embarrassment. It faded quickly though as her green eyes met Koichi's blue. 'Are you okay Koichi?' she asked.

'Sure,' the addressed replied, although his voice was somewhat shaky. Even a child could have told him he was lying…although that wouldn't have been particularly wise, especially since none of them could figure out, from that brief glance, exactly what was going through his mind.

His expression gave a little less away, but it was far more readable. Parts of it were indiscernible as well, but disgust was easily apparent. Horror was easily apparent, and unless they were mistaken, guilt and relief were apparent as well.

They always knew Koichi wore a mask over his features, to hide what he truly felt inside. They always knew it was different to the mask Koji had used to wear. They had _thought_ it was weaker; perhaps though, they had been wrong. It was different to be sure, but it certainly wasn't weaker. After all, nothing had changed since the chaos with Mariko as far as what concerned him directly. And yet both faces: that which had driven the men away from their target and the one who shied away from them now, were utterly different to the face they had seen back at the Maple Inn. At that moment, it became obvious that Koichi hadn't been and still wasn't as "fine" as he claimed, and it also became obvious that they were rather bad in hiding their surprise when Koichi turned back once more, facing away from them.

'What do you know about Ceres?' he asked, in a wildly transparent attempt to change the pending topic…or so was thought initially. Of course, talking about the other "problem" was only useful if someone knew something. And it just so happened that none of them did.

'Forget that,' Takuya and Koji spoke together. After a half-glance at each other, Koji continued. 'Koichi, stop telling us you're okay when you're not-'

'You stop it!' the other cried, turning back. 'Doesn't it bother you?'

Silence greeted his outburst.

'Doesn't _what_ bother us?' Funnily enough, it seemed Tommy's voice was the least affected. Even Koichi seemed surprised by his own exclamation.

'I-' The elder twin turned away again, fighting the words before startling them all again. 'I'm going for a walk.'

And he did just that, although he sped up considerably when Koji called after him. Predictably, the younger twin followed, and eventually both of them were running, voices melding into the crowd. The remaining four couldn't make out who was yelling at what recipient, intentional or no, nor could they figure out where the twins had disappeared too.

Takuya, who'd _tried_ to follow, gave up. 'That was reckless,' he muttered.

Zoe couldn't help but laugh at that. 'Like you're one to talk about recklessness.' The humour quickly evaporated though. 'I guess it wasn't a good time to pry.' Her thumbs played with each other. 'After all, he just woke up to the debris falling on all of us, and then there was that thing with those guys –'

'What the heck did they want anyway?' Takuya wondered aloud, his question vanishing as Zoe pressed on as if she had not been interrupted.

' – and who knows what his mind went through before that, and we were just expecting the perfect ending again –'

'You're crying,' JP exclaimed, turning to her.

The green eyes blinked, before touching the lashes. 'I guess I am,' she said, her tone somewhat wondrous – before she quickly wiped her eyes dry. 'No I'm not. I just had something in my eye. But we really should try and find the twins.'

'We'll just call them.' JP gave up on the blonde; each of them was as stubborn as the other.

Then he frowned, fiddling with the cell-phone. 'Uhh, guys? Are your sims working?'

Three more cell-phones came out, to give the same result.

'But we're in Japan, aren't we?' Takuya stared at the familiar Kanji grafted into the buildings.

'Japan's a big place,' the eldest of their quartet pointed out. 'I'm guessing we're not in Tokyo.'

There was a bit of a pause, before Tommy exclaimed, pointing at the top of a skyscraper. 'There,' he said. 'Kushiro.' Then his brow forrowed. 'What's Kushiro?'

'A place,' JP replied. 'It's in Hokkaido.'


	36. Guards

Author's Notes

Man, this conversation was a pain.

This chapter's purely twins. Next chapter's purely absent twins.

Now, concerning updates, I'm not updating Mirror Distortions again this week. One, because it's already Friday night. Two, because I want to write chapter 5 for Crests of Origin before it's time for chapter 6. And three because I'm not even home the whole of tomorrow. I'm still sorting everything out. Well, that and the two competitions due next week.

It's also so hard to keep track of the little things. Hope I didn't double-cross myself. :)

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 36<span>

Guards

Koichi, from Koji's experience, wasn't a particularly fast runner by any means. However, he had a rather annoying habit of _not_ running straight. While in a flat field it would make little difference in the end, except perhaps be a tad disadvantageous to the runner in question, when running through a crowd in a relatively unknown location (at least the whispers around him were mostly in Japanese), it proved to be particularly troublesome for the one giving chase. Particularly when he hadn't eaten since some time the previous day.

He had momentarily forgotten that Koichi hadn't managed a decent meal for _weeks_. They (or Zoe rather, apparently the only one with any degree of success during the whole Heaven's War chaos) had been forced to make do with water and instant soup. Anything solid failed epically; the little morsels sat innocently upon the pallet and in the end they were removed for fear on choking when the body's position changed and gravity readjusted its grip. But soup wasn't particularly nutritious, and he'd moved very little over that time, so of course his muscles would also be out of practice.

Still, Koji had almost despaired after losing him in the crowd before stumbling across the other in a tucked-away corner where the footpath branched into a little alley-way. The short run had left him slightly out of breath, but not enough to collapse against the cold surface as the other.

'Koichi?' he asked, somewhat hesitantly.

'Don't-' the other coughed, before continuing his desperate gasps for air. His voice trembled as he repeated the half-formed demand. 'Don't-'

'Don't what?' It might have been better to keep silent in most cases…but then again, Koichi wasn't "most" cases.

Koichi just squeezed his eyes shut and sunk a little further towards the ground before clasping his hands over his ears.

'Koichi?'

The lips formed soundless syllables vanishing into the stale air as Koji took a step closer. While the main street was heavily occupied (and thus attributing to his loss in the brief pursuit), the smaller off-joint was deserted save for the pair of them and the shadows that loomed overhead.

'Hey, if you don't say something right now, I'm going to steal Mum's photos of you with that dress and horse and post them-'

Koji wasn't sure exactly what made him say that; it just slipped out. In any case, it fulfilled its required duty of catching his brother's attention. Koichi was gaping at him, a slightly red tinge painting his cheeks. The next moment, he was blinking, and then…

'What?' The tone sounded flabbergasted, and to Koji, who had just been listening to a very different tone, it was a tad unnerving.

'Please don't make me repeat it,' the younger twin muttered, failing to quell his own blush.

'Why…why would you even say something like that?'

'Umm…hey!' Koji folded his hands and leaned over the other, realising he was quickly losing ground. 'We're totally off the topic here! What the heck is going on with –'

He was at his wits end when the other clammed his hands over his ears with another wince. 'Be quiet,' Koichi muttered in a way that could easily be misdirected, however Koji knew his brother well.

'Who are you talking to?' He had to say it a little louder than the usual speaking tone to bypass the barrier.

Koichi shook his head.

Koji put a hand to his own. 'Great,' he muttered. 'This is going no-where.' He paused, thinking of his next approach, before deciding to latch onto a new topic. 'What happened with your application?'

He had to repeat the question before getting a response. Koichi seemed to be having trouble focusing on his one-sided conversation.

'What application?' A pause. 'Aargh, just leave me alone. I can only listen to one conversation at a time.'

And there was the validation for Koji's previous assumption. It also provided the little titbit that slid the remaining puzzle pieces into place.

The next moment, several things happened consecutively. Koji snapped his fingers. A sudden flash of light banished all traces of shadow from the alley-way they both crouched in (to varying degrees). Koichi winced and shut his eyes…before blinking and removing his hands from his ears as his breathing finally eased.

'Better?' Koji tried.

There was a different sort of pause before the other responded. 'Yeah. Thanks.' He was still facing the ground though.

'Great.' The younger twin had been about to say "no problem", but then decided against it. 'Now you owe me an explanation. I gather all those voices and flashes were to do with your Medium…eh, you do remember that-'

'Yeah.'

'Okay, good.' It would have been a pain to explain that otherwise. 'Um, well…' He stopped as he realised he had little clue as to his approach to the rest of the issues.

'I didn't mention flashes.'

Koichi always had a way of getting him off topic. Not this time though.

'You didn't need to.' There was a bite of impatience in the tone. 'Anyway, that's not the point because I'm positive that wasn't what was bothering you earlier.' He added the next part before the other could even speak, admittedly with a little more fire than was necessary: 'And don't you dare lie to me about this!'

Koichi actually flinched away from the raised tone. Not winced, but _flinched. _What was even more surprising was, or were, the little salt-water droplets that fell beside the pale hand.

That made _Koji_ wince. But despite the guilt that quickly settled, he felt a sense of accomplishment. After all, it was a lot harder to maintain masks when your body betrayed you. He should know, after that fateful hospital meeting that had scrambled everyone's facades. After all, his mother had walked in while the twins had clutched each other and the river Nile was flowing between.

And he wasn't going to back down. So he said as much, even as his attempt to comfort the other was shoved away – literally.

'Why..?'

'I'm no mind-reader Koichi.' _Even after that little "incident"_, he mentally added as an afterthought. Although, now that he thought about it, it was one messed up situation. He supposed he'd been expecting a fairy-tail ending.

The silence stretched.

'Oh, just spit it out already!' Koji almost bit his tongue as the words escaped from his lips. 'Damn, I'm starting to sound like Takuya. How disturbing.'

Koichi let out an uncharacteristic snort of laughter.

'Doesn't what bother me?' Koji felt like he was quickly losing his advantage.

'Doesn't it bother you?' Koichi reiterated, before laughing again, one hand wiping the tears away from his eyes. 'You honestly don't get it.'

And in all honesty, Koji didn't "get it" until the other pointed at the little protrusions from his skull.

'Oh, Koichi…'

It was the horns. Sort of. More so the vectors that came with them. The prejudice. The murder weapon. And especially that fight with Mariko.

'Fine.' The younger twin closed his eyes. It was easier that way. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Koichi had been disturbing him…since their stay at the Maple Inn. 'I'll start from the top. One: the horns make you look cute. And they're nothing new; remember when Zoe dressed up for that graduation party? You were as red as a strawberry but I didn't hear you complaining about the neko-ears then. Second: you're the warrior of darkness. I shouldn't even need to go into that one. Third: those vectors can be really useful. As much as I hate to quote Takuya, they're like octopus arms. If we're suddenly falling, you'll be able to catch all of us and have arms left over. As far as weapons go, we've used swords, staffs and loaders before. And as for Mariko, if any of us had been in reach, we'd have probably done a lot worse. Double if we'd been in your shoes. Now, I know it's going to be completely pointless to tell you to just leave it all right now; it's not that easy. But there's no reason to torture yourself over it all either.' He paused for breath, before back-tracking. 'I think I forgot something…oh right. How did you suddenly start hearing and seeing everything at once?'

'I didn't say anything about seeing,' was Koichi's only response to the long-winded and uncharacteristic speech. He sighed thereafter, letting his head slump down.

'I already told you,' Koji pointed out. 'You didn't have to. Now…did I cover everything?'

If it wasn't for the gravity of the situation, their current discussion could count as one of the weirdest ever. If he was looking in from a TV screen, he'd have to say he and his brother had been replaced by a couple of sad imitations…because neither of them were acting like they usually did. That being said, they hadn't ever been in such a situation before, so their actions were perfectly justified.

'You missed something.' Now, that sounded like Koichi's usual tone. Well…more like his usual something-is-still-bothering-me tone.

'Like what?' Koji thumbed through the mental checklist.

'The digimon,' Koichi replied after a brief moment of silence, taking the pressure off his hands and leaning back onto the alley wall. 'When I scanned Arbormon, I felt nothing. I didn't touch those SAT men. I barely touched Mariko. The first time, all I was doing was defending myself on instinct, but –'

Koji closed his eyes again, remembering his Kendo lessons. 'We're just human,' he responded finally. 'Despite everything else, we're human. It's easier for us to sympathise with other humans because we live and breathe with them. Because we _are_ like them. Even when we spirit evolve, we can't really _become_ digimon. We're still more vulnerable because of the human factor, but we're stronger too. Maybe because we're different. Maybe it's the same when we squash spiders in bathtubs-'

Koichi shot a glare at him.

'-okay, no spiders. How about ants in picnic baskets?' He let out his own snort of laughter. 'Why are you latching on to that for?'

For some reason, the pair of twins exploded into identical fits of laughter.

'Have you lost it?'

'Have _you_?'

Koji considered that. 'Fair enough.' A cough readministered some control.

'It's sad,' Koichi said suddenly. 'And selfish.'

'It is,' Koji agreed. 'But it's impossible not to be responsible for at least one life that's not human. Even if you are vegetarian, there's eggs and stuff like that. Baby chicks and all. And –'

'Koji,' the other interrupted.

A sheepish: 'I'm not helping things, am I?'

'You're blabbing,' the other said bluntly. 'Which you never do.' He closed his eyes as he said it. 'It'll help…'

'Just not now.' Koji shook his head, before his blush returned full force as his stomach rumbled. 'I'm-oh my god!'

Koichi couldn't muster up the energy to jump in surprise.

'I completely forgot. When was the last time you ate anything? And that was Zoe's soup too – not that she's a bad cook or anything, but still-' He cut himself off before picking up a connected strain of thought. 'We should get something to eat. I think I've got enough on me.' He took a breath, before crouching in front of the other. 'Here.'

Koichi opened his eyes. 'Huh?'

'I'll carry you.'

'I can walk.'

'Oh no you can't.' And Koji was proven correct when Koichi attempted to stand and stumbled. 'Just let me carry you.'

The elder twin was obviously reluctant, but in the end he gave in. And that was Koji's victory won.

'Hang on. We've forgotten about the others.'

'They went in the opposite direction.'

'Of course they did.' Koji half-glared at the spectre following them. 'I'll bet Takuya was in charge.'

'I'm not a mind reader.'

'No. And neither am I.' A pause. 'What? No retaliation?'

'I don't know what part of me is more tired.' And the voice validated it. 'The body or the mind.'

_Or the soul_. But Koji didn't say that out loud. He knew there wasn't a quick-fix to anything. But Koichi might have a point.

His was more important though. Adrenaline wasn't going to pull anyone through any full night.

'We'll talk more over the ramen, 'kay?'

'Hmm…' Koji felt his brother's lips twitch into a smile on his slowly dampening shoulder. 'Why am I crying again?'

'You're tired,' the younger twin answered.

'I'm sorry.'

'Yes. You're that too,' Koji said absentmindedly. 'That's part of your problem.'

Koichi couldn't muster up the energy to combat that either.


	37. Mikage

Author's Notes

*quietly tiptoes in*

So I finally got around to starting Ayashi no Ceres. So I can finally write this chapter. Oh, and my MSTs have taken a small break too.

Sorry for taking so long everyone. Hopefully I'll build a backlog once summer comes (lol, first week of Spring and I'm thinking about summer). As for the length…good place to end.

*tiptoes back out before angry readers react and shoves muse to front*

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 37<span>

Mikage

Kushiro didn't turn out to be much more than a place. It certainly didn't appear to be anyone's first choice of a holiday spot…much less a bunch of teenagers. Having attempted to find the twins again as rain decided to shower them once more, they'd weaved through the crowds in search.

They'd been stopped numerous times by the odd, and sometimes leering, looks. The only female in particular looked torn between shrinking behind JP's larger frame and beating the stuffing out of the next man to stare at her.

'Oh, I get it,' the ex-warrior of thunder mumbled finally, a faint blush coating his cheeks. 'Guys? I think we should get out of this road.'

'Why?' Tommy blinked up at him; he was having trouble seeing past the heads, essentially drowning in a sea of people.

'Because this street is…umm…' He said the next bit too fast to make out.

'Slower?' Takuya asked, apparently not seeing what Zoe now spotted.

'Sheesh,' the girl muttered. 'It's-' She went a little red herself. 'Love hotels, and…stuff.'

'Oh.' They decided simultaneously that switching streets would be a very good idea. Somehow, they didn't think the twins would stick around long in a place like _that_; Koichi for one would probably faint from embarrassment.

If he was he wasn't. But that was beside the point.

* * *

><p>'We probably went in the wrong direction,' Takuya groaned, leaning his head against a cool railing. 'That would be just our luck.'<p>

'At least Koji kept up,' JP pointed out reasonably. 'It would be worse if someone was alone, but those two will be fine on their own.' He neglected to point out he was carrying an extra pack, and Takuya was bringing along the other. The twins didn't have a lot between them: whatever they had in their pockets really. But both of them had "super-powers  
>- as Takuya at one stage had so gracefully put it. And Koichi had scared those weird guys off without much trouble.<p>

Physical trouble that was.

'True.' Zoe's blonde hair dangled through the rails as she dropped her head. The shower had apparently been rather brief, its single intent to knock them out of the park. 'But we're not getting anywhere just-' She paused, before sneezing.

'Bless you,' the boys said in one voice, before hooking pinkies.

Zoe stifled her laughter, hoping she wasn't coming down with a cold.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, they gave up their search. Wherever the twins were, they weren't going to run into them in a hurry. Of course, it didn't help that there had been a second shower not long after the first, and now Zoe wasn't the only one of their quartet sneezing dismally.<p>

'This is ridiculous.' JP was, surprisingly, the only one not sneezing. 'Can't Koichi just find us with whatever he was doing in South America?'

The others blinked at each other.

'I'm assuming he still can,' the ex-warrior of thunder pressed on. 'After all, he knew when those weird guys were out of earshot and we couldn't see them at all, and-'

'Okay JP,' Takuya groaned. 'We get the point.' He collapsed on the bench, before squinting through the bushes before them. 'Hey. Is it just the shadows in front of my eyes or are there black figures rushing about on the other side of those bushes?'

The others looked. Turned out they weren't shadows behind the eyes but rather before them.

Luckily, they didn't appear to be seen. Or maybe because Zoe had drawn her hood over her hair.

But why they were looking for Zoe, or any blonde, they still didn't quite understand. Zoe, on the Moon, had been the _scout_ of Ceres, not the reincarnation of the planet itself. Or the deity that represented it.

It was only a minute later when someone else came, this time on the side of the bushes they were on. A middle-aged man to whom the years had not been kind; already he limped along with the help of a cane and it was doubtful he had grandchildren to speak of. Slow as he was, it was inevitable that he would spot the group of adolescents and they him.

So, of course he stopped, looking over the three boys and girl, gaze lingering on Zoe until she started feeling rather uncomfortable.

'This isn't the best place for a young girl to be wandering about,' he said finally, throat somewhat scratchy. 'And this weather is no place for _anyone_.'

'We're a little lost,' JP explained. Takuya had tried to, but a sneeze interrupted him.

'Well…' The gaze lingered a little longer. I'm heading back to my house. Come with me and warm up.'

The quartet exchanged glances, then shrugged. It really wasn't like they were getting anywhere, and with three of the four apparently coming down with colds, getting warm sounded like an excellent idea.

No-one even thought to feel uneasy about the idea.

* * *

><p>The fire was warm. So were the rugs, and the cups of tea they clutched were like the icing on the cake. The man hadn't been kind exactly – there was something stiff in his movements that could not be accounted for by his poor health, but he still provided them with warmth and sustenance and that was kind enough.<p>

Making conversation to fill the awkward silence proved a little harder, but Takuya had quite a knack for working past that barrier and somehow brought the subject around to C-Genomers (who were people with "super-powers" so Koichi might have in fact been wrong – not that anyone said so out loud) and then to the Mikage family history.

'It's quite a messy story, really,' the man, a member of the Mikage family himself, explained. 'One of our ancestors stole theHagoromofrom the celestial maiden Ceres, forcing her to remain on earth. It is said that Ceres eventually married this ancestor for she was cursed to bear his children, and for a time they lived happily. However one day her husband was badly wounded and she saved him by infusing within his body a bit of her own power. Intoxicated by it, he longed for more but when she refused, he beats her.'

Zoe and Tommy both stifled a gasp at that.

'Eventually, she attempts to leave with her children, however her husband finds and fatally wounds her. Fearful for her children's lives, she kills him and is thus forced to reincarnate until her robes are returned to her. And until they are, she lives in anger and hate, seeking to destroy all the descendants to this ancestor for his crime.'

Tommy shuddered at that. 'Sounds like a really scary horror story.'

They'd seen less believable things though, however the man misunderstood and abruptly got up. 'I have proof,' he said gruffly, vanishing through a door before returning with a wooden box.

They all leaned forward slightly to stare at the ancient relic.

'In here is a piece of our ancestor, Mikage.'

JP and Tommy looked up. The other two did not.

'Ceres is reincarnated every sixteen years as a female in our clan,' the man continued. 'But there are no girls of the right age in our immediate family so it is nothing more than a relic for now.'

He offered the box to Zoe, who let her rug slip over her shoulder as a hand wormed out.

'However, the extended family has spread quite far.'

The statement however was said too softly for any other to hear, and thus it came as a great surprise as, just as Zoe was about to touch the box, a shout interrupted her – or them.

'Don't touch that!'

Startled, her hand automatically snapped back and her eyes shot to the outer door.

Correction: the _broken_ outer door.


	38. Ceres

Author's Notes

Okay. This is the end of the Ceres, Celestial Legend (or Ayashi no Ceres in Japanese) arc. Next comes Angel's Sanctuary, which you might need to look up to understand so I'm giving you a heads up.

BTW, the Mikage family (or try to) kill the reincarnation of Ceres.

Be glad I wrote this straight after last chapter. :)

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 38<span>

Ceres

Koichi had only managed a third of the bowl of ramen, so luckily Koji had had the foresight to only purchase one. As it was, the two-thirds that remained was enough to satisfy him for the moment; warmth stole through his body his pallet lapped up the quick nutrition. Granted, it wasn't a sugar-fix like chocolate for instance, but it was okay when they lounged around the ramen stand as the rain came, on and off.

It took more than an hour before the sun came out again and Koichi lifted his head from where he'd let the weight limply drop.

'You two done?' the boy who manned the stall asked.

Koji nodded and handed the bowl over.

'The two of you with just one regular sized bowl?' A pert eyebrow flew up.

The younger twin matched the stare coolly. Stinginess was not a reason in that instance. 'My brother's been sick for awhile and he hasn't had solid food for…' He paused, realising that ramen probably wasn't the best option. There was a fairly good chance Koichi would just throw it up. 'A month,' he finished, feeling somewhat lame.

'A _month_?' the other repeated incredulously. 'And you're wandering around in _this_ weather? And getting food from a take-away…although our ramen is quite fine in more ways than one –' The last bit was said with pride but there was still an unusual level of concern in the eyes of the stranger.

At least, until he turned to glare at Koji.

'We were on our way somewhere and got separated,' Koji replied defensively, thinking up a more elaborate tale on the spot. Honestly, Koichi was better at coming up with stories and covering the plot holes; he simply failed at making it _sound_ believable. Writing the story was no problem. Or drawing for that matter.

'On your way _where?'_

'A shrine.' Koichi, rather unexpectedly, raised his head. He had been so quiet and still that the other two boys had thought him asleep. Actually, Koji had thought him to be unconscious. The name that followed came out somewhat garbled, but evidently the server recognised it anyway; Koji certainly did not. And it was an extra stroke of luck that the boy, now scrubbing away at the ramen bowl, knew the fastest way to get there.

Koichi stood up and stumbled, causing Koji to catch him in slight alarm.

'Hurry,' the elder twin urged. 'You need to go, _now!_'

'Why?' Koji whispered back. 'What's there?'

'The others.' Like his brother, Koichi kept his voice low. 'Don't let Zoe touch the wooden box or the hand inside. I'll catch up.'

He sounded desperate, even with the effort to remain calm. So Koji left his brother and followed the path outlined to him by his brother…and presumably the medium he thought he spied along the way.

So Koichi had found the others. He hadn't been able to at first; maybe he had simply needed more concentration.

After a few minutes, he realised _he_ needed more concentration. The shrine was farther than he had originally thought, the rental property that was his destination even more so. As it was, he crashed into the door not a moment too soon, garbling his shout of caution as he saw Zoe's naturally pale hand reaching for a wooden box –

'Don't touch that box! Zoe!'

Every occupant of the room stared incredulously at him, Zoe's hand frozen mere inches from the box.

It took another frozen moment before the heat rose to Koji's face and he quickly bowed. 'I'm sorry for the intrusion,' he said quickly. 'But that box-'

He was in no way prepared for the gun that suddenly appeared in the free hand. In fact, if something hadn't knocked him off his feet, he would have winded up with a nice little hole through his skull.

There was a shriek; high and panicked, it was difficult to tell whether it came from a male or the only female in the room. The box went flying; Takuya thankfully had caught enough of the situation to attempt to catch it. He missed sadly, but it bounced into JP's extended grip and he caught it safely.

This time it was definitely Tommy who screamed, causing both twins to scramble to their feet and the inhabitants of the room to freeze for the second time.

'Good timing,' Koji said weakly to his brother eventually.

'I think it was Espeon,' Koichi responded, breathing almost drowning out the reply.

'Watch out!'

That was Zoe who shouted the warning, just in time for the unseen vectors to halt the next bullet.

The man went pale. 'C-Genomer,' he muttered. The next readied-shot was indisputably targeting the elder twin – except it failed to fire as Koji lashed out with a whip of light.

The quarter watched the twins grapple with the Mikagi man. Koichi wasn't quite up to snuff, but it seemed his vectors and Espeon's speed and precognition were a huge help. Koji was just naturally agile from years of martial arts and a single day without decent meals wasn't going to get him down. Of course, it helped that Takuya practically forcefed him before. Not that he was going to quite admit to the fact at that point in time.

As for the other four, they were more than a little confused. Takuya's empty fists were clenched; JP firmly clutched the box. If Koji said to keep the box away…hang on? He froze suddenly, looking at the object. Had Koji called Zoe's name simply because she had been the one reaching for it, or because it was her specifically.

He hoped for the latter, for both himself and Takuya had touched it. Heck, he was still touching it!

* * *

><p>Koji danced around another blow. The gun had easily been dismantled; it seemed almost reflective on Koichi's part but it certainly made their fight safer. He could see what was so urgent now – although he wouldn't say no to information. But for the man to pull a gun on him for stopping Zoe from touching that box –<p>

He suppressed a shudder, ducking away from the knife and parrying from his own sword. The blade's twin swung for the ex-warrior of darkness, but Koichi used his vectors to jump high and out of reach.

But the man was wild, fighting as if he was possessed, and two teens, despite being rather experienced and possessing powers the other lacked, were slowly succumbing to the restraints of their own bodies.

In fact, it if hadn't been for Tommy changing the battlefield and icing the ground, one of them would have gotten hit.

Unfortunately, that turned the attention towards the four that remained and something – they weren't sure what – flew towards them. All of them dodged; the box splintered in JP's hold and he howled in pain as the sharp fragments dug into his fists. The contents went flying too; he didn't see where as there was a fine layer of dust and other things.

Tommy was closer; he gagged, but couldn't see either. He heard JP's shout – nothing from the twins though and that worried him. Had one of them gotten hit? He could hear Takuya too, muttering about on the same side as JP and cursing to himself, and a small cry of surprise from Zoe –

Who had the misfortune of taking the mummified hand to the head. Literally. The surprise quickly turned into a frozen shriek as flashes flew by his eyes: blood, anger – there was so much –

Something was cracking. Someone was screaming. She couldn't tell who or what or where though. She was angry; at what, she didn't know.

She simply lashed out to expel that anger.

* * *

><p>Every male in the room felt the air change. The sky roared outside; the roof was leaking now from their reckless fighting and rain was quick to slip through the gaps. The man froze before gabbling something incoherent All they (or the twins rather, being the only ones close enough) could make out was the repeated words: 'I – must –!'<p>

Koichi in particular wondered if his hearing was spinning around in a centrifuge as much as his vision was. It would make perfect sense; his body simply wasn't used to the sudden onslaught of movement. As it was, adrenaline was the main reason he hadn't already collapsed – and of course the danger that triggered it. His medium was completely useless; even though there was plenty of shadow, he was simply too tired to concentrate on the sensory information fed back to him, or even exercise control. The consequence left his brain even more muddled.

He hoped there would be a way to get it under control. It was useful, certainly, but it seemed to have as many side-effects as benefits.

That was before his numbing skin realised the change in air currents. And if it hadn't been for Espeon's predisposition, he may have missed it entirely.

Still, he didn't know what it meant. None of them did. Except the man who was praying now, mumbling, drawing something with the grate of metal –

Koji heard it first and even Espeon's precognition fell short to Gallade's guard abilities in that instance. They both moved, but it was the younger twin who threw himself into a grapple with the knife. His own light-weapon was gone; he was getting as tired as his brother, even if his stamina was in better shape. He _had_ been handling more of the strength aspects of the fight after all. Even if he was still a little lost.

For Koichi, it was too late to stop moving, but he was in a good position to pitch in if Koji needed it. Granted, it was quite a large "if"; Koji had more experience than him –

He had not seen the needles of power ripping through the air behind him. Behind _them_. Too fast to be seen, to be pre-empted – too fast to even scream as they tore through his body.

The thought barely dashed across his mind: thank goodness he had been behind his brother…

And then something literally exploded behind his eyes.

He missed another scream. Koji's. Then the man's; Koji had pulled them out of the way – but something had seized his vectors with a frenzy, and there were pulling at them viciously. Pulling at his _mind_ as it unconsciously leaned to them –

For some reason, he was getting the sense of déjà vu. As if something of the sort had happened before. Just not to him…

* * *

><p>JP decided then and there he would forever curse the moment he let go of that damned box. He hadn't seen it land atop of Zoe, but he could see it now, glittering strangely as the girl herself stood in a trance. One hand was outstretched; her eyes were white, her face pale and blank.<p>

And the air…was shrieking and tearing at itself.

Tommy pulled his hat over his eyes to shield them. Takuya tried to do the same with his cap. JP had neither luxury – and that's how he remained the sole witness of the next events, because Koji had his back to the beginning of them.

Something literally cut the air. He couldn't see what but he definitely saw a shift in the space around them. It could have been cool: fascinating, a scientific observation of high quality – if it hadn't been for where it had aimed. Straight at the twins and the man who'd so suddenly attacked them.

They dove into the elder twin before he could so much as blink. There was a pause, a fragile tethering, and then Koichi was screaming out in raw pain as the power tore through his body, his mind and God knew what else.

He was reminded of how Mariko's vectors had slashed through Tommy's stomach. How the blood had flown through the air. How the raw anger had erupted –

The only difference was that it had erupted first this time. Right beside him. Inside Zoe, eyes still blank but aura raging fiercely enough to command the wind hurtling through the world outside.

That, he presumed from what the Mikage told them, was the reincarnation of Ceres. The one who had sworn to kill the Mikage family in her revenge.

And the twins were in the way.

Eventually – or so it felt – Koji dragged his brother out of the way and the other collapsed limply, like a marionette cut off his strings. With nothing left to obscure, the Mikage was left to face the full power of Ceres' rage – and JP couldn't really find it in his heart to be sorry, because he'd tried to kill at least three of his friends. Four perhaps, if it was a bullet that had knocked the box from his hands. Unless he himself was the fourth.

Still, it was a mercy when the blue light appeared around them before the man fell. Maybe he would live, so poor Zoe would have no blood on her hands.

But it was for a selfish reason as well, for if he could passively wish a man dead, did that make him worse?

The light swallowed the question as well as him.


	39. Alexiel

Author's Notes

I read Angel Sanctuary last year and just the once, so my memory's rather foggy when it comes to its more intricate details (like characterisations). And trying to write Kurai _not_ lovestruck by Setsuna…. Better than the next world though; I'm walking in there blind. :)

Have I crossed 100,000 yet? I don't think so. Close though…

* * *

><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Autocycle<span>

Chapter 39 – Alexiel

Koji was instantly awake. Before he even registered the fact that he had slept – or been rendered unconscious – he was searching for his brother. It didn't take long; there was an odd spider-trail of blood stemming from him. Too thinly stretched to be natural, as if small droplets of blood followed their course along something he couldn't see.

He could definitely feel them though, tripping over thin air as he rushed for his brother's still form. The noise rose the others – except Zoe, her blonde hair falling over her face like an elaborate mask, and Koichi, whose own face was white and cold save the small, darker, trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth.

Tommy was fighting to get his hat out of his face; for some reason, it was more difficult than it should be. JP on the other hand had no inhibitions and quickly sprung to his feet. Seeing Koji checking over his twin, he tentatively approached Zoe. When she showed no notice, he shook her gently.

Takuya stared between one and the other, then up.

'Uhh…guys?'

No-body listened to him. Maybe it was because no-body heard.

'Guys! There's a…_thing_ coming right at us!'

The three conscious looked up at that, and it was noted that Takuya's description was quite accurate, all things considered. The thing coming towards them could only be considered as a "thing".

Koji half gasped and leaned forward as if to shield his brother. JP half lifted Zoe into his hands. Tommy sprung up and ran a few paces forward. Neither of their unconscious companions reacted at all, lost in the realm of unconsciousness.

But the "thing" flew overhead and vanished behind the skyscrapers. And said thing was quickly forgotten as the four conscious turned their attention back to their injured friends.

Zoe was trembling slightly, as if unconsciously cold. The skin under her eyelids were moist and the body a tad warm; her breathing was somewhat rough and her pulse somewhat fast.

Koichi was somewhat the opposite. His skin was cold to the touch and his pulse thready and weak. He was still breathing, gently onto the ear Koji lowered to check; he could feel it but he could not hear it at all.

It was his alarmed cry that brought Takuya and Tommy to his side, the former too tripping over something they couldn't see.

Tommy stared. 'His vectors are just lying limply? Solid?'

So they were the vectors after all. Takuya navigated a little more carefully, saving the curiosity as to how Tommy was so sure for another time.

One look at the ashen face and the blood at the side of his mouth, and the resident sport export declared a hospital in order.

'Bleeding from the mouth like that usually indicates internal injury,' he pointed out.

'But the vectors –' Tommy began uncertainly.

'Koichi's more important than the vectors,' Takuya countered as Koji opened his mouth.

The younger twin closed it and turned his head down slightly in gratitude. 'How's Zoe?' he asked, gathering the frail form in his arms.

'Over-exertion?' JP tried. 'Nothing life-threatening as far as I can tell.'

Koji felt relief, along with a slight stab of guilt for not asking sooner.

'Right,' Takuya said a moment after, leaning down as if to help Koji lift his brother. 'I think I can see a hospital from here. We should-'

He looked up as Tommy interrupted.

'Someone's making a beeline for us.'

Takuya looked up, only to be knocked over by a blur of white and brown.

'Alexiel!' they heard. 'What have you done to her?'

They assumed she was talking about Zoe…until the – Girl? Boy? Snatched Koichi away from his twin.

Koji jumped up, only to be matched in rage with the face of the dark-skilled child.

'What did you do to Alexiel?' The shriek was high and loud, and all spectators (the street was empty except for them) found it difficult to believe it came from a boy.

Well, at least they sorted the gender out.

Of course, they were yet to figure out how someone had mistaken _Koichi_ for a girl when Koji was the one with the long hair. Not that they were particularly concerned about that at the moment.

Koji for one was only concerned about getting his brother back and healthy. 'Give me my brother back,' he snarled.

The girl glared back, stamping her foot. Somehow, she managed to support the limp form a head taller than her.

'Alexiel will save us!' the girl screeched. 'But now it won't be for _years_. You killed her reincarnation.'

Blue eyes widened, freezing in that frame. 'I-I didn't –' Unless one could count the failure to move, to react in time, as a causative agent.

Luckily, Takuya got in the way, or who knew what Koji would have said or done after the initial bone-crushing shock wore off and the initial part of the statement registered.

'We've got two injured friends here,' he said, surprisingly firmly to the young girl. 'And we'd like to get to a hospital as soon as possible, so we really don't have time –'

'No good,' the girl said, somewhat quietly as she snuck in the time to check the prone form. 'The human hospitals don't know anything, and he won't make it there anyway.'

If her appearance had surprised them, her sudden disappearance did ten-fold.

'Hey!' the ex-warrior of flame shouted to the suddenly empty air. 'Get back here you-' He stopped himself, but not because he was about to curse a young lady.

It had more to do with the disorientation of suddenly relocating…and landing on his back.

* * *

><p>Koji hadn't consciously done anything; he certainly hadn't intended to teleport himself and his friends to the top of a building, crashing onto the renegade girl and his brother along the way, but that was what happened.<p>

The upside was he managed to grab his brother in the collision so the pale and cold form was now stretched over his lap. The downside was the girl had been right; there hadn't been enough time for a hospital. His ear was next to the other's mouth, but he could feel no tickling of breath nor hear as such.

The girl cursed in a rather unladylike manner, stamping her foot again. 'I'm not waiting for another –' She paused, evidently guarding whichever deity she was about to swear by. ' – who knows how many years!' She knelt down as if to start a tug-of-war with the elder twin as the rope before surprisingly surrendering. 'Oh, it's pointless. Raphael's the only one who can do it, but hell if I'm going near _him_.'

She made at that point as if she was about to leave, and Koji honestly couldn't care less. He was occupied with his brother, fingers threading for a pulse. When he failed to find one in the wrist, he prodded about the neck instead, wishing he had payed closer attention when they'd had that lesson on emergency procedures.

He finally found one: thready and weak – but it was there. Like a feather's touch, fluttering upon a breeze that could easily sweep away. It stopped. Started. Stopped again.

He held his breath.

It started.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Too soon. It stopped again.

'Koji?'

He ignored the voice. Actually, it would be more accurate to state he did not hear it at all. The fluttering stopped again, and he waited. Searched. Failed to find it again.

'It's too late.'

He should have been angry. Enraged. If it was too late, it was _her_ fault for dragging them away. But he couldn't; he just felt hollow. Numb.

From the absolute silence, it was obvious to any outsider that they all felt that way. Shell-shocked was perhaps the correct term. Like in the instance when Lucemon had scanned his data, and for all means and purposes as far as the Digital World was concerned, killed him in cold blood.

This was different. None of them really understood what had happened, or who was responsible. Zoe could perhaps answer the question for them: explain what had happened at the Mikage residence, and what was so important about the box as Koichi obviously couldn't and Koji had already admitted ignorance.

Not that it mattered an atom's worth at that point.

* * *

><p>Kurai decided she was a fool. Her goal had been to intercept the reincarnation of Alexiel and have her assistance, but it had backfired as well as a plan <em>could<em> backfire. In other words, by the time she'd tracked down the distinct signature, the reincarnation was beyond saving. Arachne's poisons may have slowed the process, perhaps even halted it if her cousin knew what was behind the condition, but…

She knew full well a hospital wouldn't have helped.

And she hadn't even considered the need because Alexiel's reincarnation _was supposed to die a rather painful death_, and as far as she knew, those things didn't exactly happen quietly. But her companions were certainly acting as though it had.

Hell, if it wasn't for the distinct signature, she'd think she'd gotten the wrong person. But there was no doubt about it.

And now she'd have to wait who knew how long for the next reincarnation.

It was very tempting to stamp her foot in frustration.

And in the meantime, her family probably wouldn't be too pleased with her…not-so-well-mannered interference in matters that didn't concern her. After all, they'd said to find Alexiel, not be seen with four or five other people who would probably stop her from leaving the moment they snapped out of their shock.

Not to mention she remembered death well – or rather, murder. Massacre. War. And her first meeting with Alexiel. Young in her world meant quite old as far as the humans were concerned. But she couldn't help but wonder what she was supposed to do for at least another sixteen years.

She also wasn't sure whether the guilt she was feeling was a result of her youth or legit. At times like this, she wished she _wasn't_ a Princess.

* * *

><p>It was when tears blurred his vision that he finally looked up, and the dark-skinned girl was what obscured his line of vision.<p>

'You…you said you could help.'

'I didn't.' She tried to shrug coolly, but didn't think she quite managed to make it work. 'I might have implied, but –'

'_Help him_.'

She winced at the raw voice.

'I can't,' she admitted. 'Trust me; if I could, I would. But you can't revive a dead human. It's going to be a pain to wait at least another sixteen years for the next reincarnation, and even that's a touch-go because all the reincarnations of Alexiel are destined to be beaten mentally and physically and finally die young...'

She wondered if anyone was actually listening to that rather important piece of information. She knew for sure she had the wrong reincarnation…but somehow that didn't change the fact that more people could die.

'I can't help,' she repeated. 'Except against what is coming for you all.'

JP lifted his head from the two still forms, one breathing still and the other not. 'Coming?'

Kurai waved her hands. 'I don't know why. They should know he's the wrong reincarnation. That damn God knows why they're pissed. How did this happen anyway?'

Nobody answered. Nobody _had_ an answer.

Except one…

* * *

><p>'The wrath of God is a dangerous thing in the hands of a human being.'<p>

They all looked up, towards the light. Kurai, being the only one to recognise the ethereal figure, gaped. 'Adam Kadamon?!'

'You six should not be in this world,' She – or he (they couldn't tell) – said in their slow, majestic voice. 'However, three of you fill the positions of reincarnations, and as a result this world has recognised Alexiel's reincarnation in that child.'

A thin finger pointed at the still form of Koichi.

'Uriel, under Sevothtarte, judges all souls that pass through Hades, and Alexiel has but one abode through her eternal punishment. But that boy cannot die in this world, so one of you must go and bring him back.'

Koji lifted his head at that. 'Bring him back?' he repeated.

'Nanatsusaya can send a soul into temporary death,' Adam Kadamon explained. 'By stabbing them with his body. That person will then have seven days to return before their body truly dies.'

'Nanatsusaya?'

'You.' At the sudden exclamation of shock, the Angel continued: 'I don't have time to explain, otherwise I won't be able to assist this world before its destruction in 1999.'

Kurai squeaked this time, but hers went unheard.

'You will only be able to send one person. I suggest the girl; it would be best for both of them.'

The light dimmed, became less substantial.

'And little Kurai…'

The Princess looked up.

'Be patient. The time is not as long as you think.'

She really wished she'd found a newspaper so she knew what year it was in Earth time.

'My children…'

The words were faint now, barely audible.

'Forgive me for the pain…you must suffer…'

And then the sky was overcast above them again.

* * *

><p>'What did Adam Kadamon mean?' Kurai asked. 'About you guys not supposed to be here?'<p>

Her voice was piercing enough to distract three of the four conscious. Koji of course only had eyes and ears for his brother.

'We're –'Takuya began, before punching the ground and cursing. 'It was supposed to be _fun_!'

Kurai looked bewildered; she sighed, shaking her head.

'Never mind.' She suddenly pointed at Koji. 'You. Go stab that girl.'

Even Koji looked up at that. 'What?' he breathed.

Kurai face-palmed. 'The greatest Angel ever created comes down to earth and tells you how to save your brother's life, and you weren't even listening!'

Then she whimpered a little as the implications of her own statement hit her. She did _not_ want to watch that. Maybe she hadn't seen anyone just die before, but she'd had her share of seeing people killed.


	40. Interlude: The Dwarf Inside the Rim

Author's Notes

This half relates to the Sailor Moon world we left, but it's more important in this world and that's why I added the other chapter first. That way you know where Zoe and Koichi sit before they get stuck in that mess in heaven/hell. Elsewise the tale would have held spoilers for the last world and the beginning of this.

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><p><span>AutoCycle<span>

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon& Anime x-overs

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><p><span>Interlude<span>

The Dwarf Inside the Rim

_Ceres was a small planet, a dwarf planet, but it was still a part of the inner Solar System. It was unique that way in fact, being the only dwarf planet within the rim, and while it kept up friendships with other planets of its own stature in the outer periphery, it was also granted the honour standing in the council upon the Moon._

_They however sent no heir to the Moon Princess' court; the Queen was mateless and childless, young even in the approach of the millennium. In fact, there were many who spied her on her trips to the Moon who believed her to be immortal. An immortal child they called her._

_Of course, they called Queen Serenity immortal too, for despite the burdens she carried governing the Milky Way and her white hair, she looked as young as her daughter. _

_In essence, the dwarf planet held a similar position to the plexus of stars. They sent their small army of warriors when internal enemies arose, dabbled in politics when necessary and overall supported the side of "Light". Other than that, they kept to their own devices._

_The outer system kept to themselves. They had no representatives in the court as far as others knew, and as far as one could see, their only allegiance to Queen Serenity was to defend the perimeter from outside intruders. _

_But it was really that the rest was a mystery. But to those who lived upon the moon, all other planets were a mystery._

_For the Princess, it was the Earth's distant shine that attracted her, and the young Prince that hailed from there with roses of sweet scent. Some who frequented the court saw some of her army looking towards the Princesses from other Kingdoms. Some even looked upon the Rulers themselves as they came. Some were pointless. Those who led the four main planets had children; a daughter to protect the precious Princess of the Moon and the Galaxy. Not many others did, so they were fair game._

_Unless they were like Ceres' Queen (who went by the same name as her planetary realm), and had a body-guard who simply would not stand for such nonsense._

_Initial tales had led to the popular belief that said bodyguard was male, and an unrequited lover. The people of Earth's and Venus' courts in particular had enjoyed the stories that spun – at least until the warrior removed their helmet and revealed the tumbling locks of black hair and feminine face. _

_Then she grew a little more and it was inconceivable how one could have mistaken her or male, even with the layers of armour she so commonly adorned. Those dwindled in time as they came towards the first Millennium and away from the dark times clouded with war and death, but she took her role as Protector of the Queen quite seriously as her sword was never far from her hand._

_By the time Beryl was rising up on Earth, calling King Endymion away from his sweetheart for long periods of time, the body-guard wore only her breast-plate and wrist guards as means of protection. The later was more for the birds that lived on their planet than any means of defence; the claws were strong but the bonds between the people were stronger. They differed vastly from the birds on Earth; both the Queen and her Protector had visited there and saw the fragile little beasts that went by the same name._

_The people of Earth would likely consider the birds of Ceres a mix of dragon and eagle, each the colour of a mineral to be found in their land. Ceres' minerals in fact; upon their land such wealth grew in abundance. Their very core was formed around it. Into space the edges drifted from time to time, like a blanket slowly fraying at the rim; their planet was too young, too fragile to survive being so close to the sun._

_Another reason to cast aside the armour: the heat._

_Despite that, the people of Ceres were content, and happy when blood was not spilt upon their precious land. The Queen of the same name was the happiest of them all, and often she bade her protector to smile upon the beauty and happiness of their kingdom together with her._

_Alexiel would come quite amiably, and if one were to wonder into the gardens of the palace or the fields beyond at those times, they would see a beautiful woman with a kind spirit instead of the soul of dark fire that defended their land and their Queen. But it was a private place, and few did see her._

_And all who did had her attention, as they were as much attaché to them as they were to her. The Queen too, for while Alexiel was the most precious of them and the one she trusted in all senses beyond her realm, she thought no less of the men who defended her palace under woman's gauntlet and ran her affairs._

_In fact, there was little problem at all, except one man took a little more of Alexiel's attention than any of them would like to admit._

_Should an outsider have seen them, they would have thought the young man with straight hair was attempting to court the Queen's Protector, but that was incorrect. The pair looked the same but not the same; they were such reflections in manner of souls as well. For they were twins, born from the same womb under the same moon, and so their souls tied in a way no-one understood. And when things weren't understood, the only thing that could be done was to accept it._

_And they were happy to accept it for a time, even if it meant the Queen had to call Alexiel away from her brother on occasion, for she refused to allow him to accompany the pair even at Alexiel's request. Contrary to the teasing whispers of the few who did not fear her wrath for being close to her heart, it wasn't jealousy preventing the warrior's company._

_It was the seed of something harsh and cruel growing inside him, and Alexiel, for all her strength, wisdom and understanding, remained blind to it. _

_And so the Queen refused his company, and travelled wider. There was much to be done in the aftermath of the Sailor Wars, and so she brought Alexiel to destinations remote and prompted seeds of life back within in while the other dispelled what remained. Alexiel only questioned the aversion to her brother's company; the Queen gave an excuse for maintaining the kingdom in their absence, and she accepted it without firm conviction._

_Perhaps it would have been better if she had been convinced, or been made to see the fatal flaw in her brother. But it was never fated to be; Alexiel continued the task assigned to her without hesitation, striking out enemies of her Queen and the one who gave her secrets and insecurities to guard. For her, the only thing more important was her brother, and the Queen found herself shuddering at the thought of the future, when the cold brother showed his true face._

_It was, she found herself oft reflecting, his love for his sister that stayed his hand. The sister who, despite killing for the defence of her loved ones and her kingdom, hated bloodshed. The one who had a kind heart beneath the exterior that gave little away, cloaked in a visor and armour of shadowed strength. But her eyes followed his every move, his every action…_

_And then she, as Queen, was absent from the kingdom with her escort and Protector, upon the Silver Millennium, when something changed. No-one could say exactly what it was; some described it as clipped wings suddenly regaining their flight. Modern Earth thought of it as a circuit breaker being removed…and perhaps that was the more logical explanation. But the soul that Alexiel knew and loved as her brother was suddenly gone, and there was just a cold and merciless warrior in his place._

_The Queen was quick to return, and called upon her weapon and her killer hawk. A hasty act it was, because the brother whose name was uttered by none had spilt blood, but not of their kin. Rather, they were visitors with little ill intention, the sort Alexiel ignored even as they stared after her with more or less than they should and certainly less than she deserved. The sort of overprotective bitterness that had developed…and no-one understood until later, far later, when the blood of their land, its ruler, and its protector lay spilt upon the browned grass._

_The unnamed brother may have been a warrior under the Queen, but she herself was strong. She fought in the Sailor Wars before the birth of him and his twin, her Protector. It was while she hovered between life and death at the aftermath that the two came into being and as they tended her and she recovered, life sprung into their land again. It was Alexiel, the female, who remained by her side while the other fought away the tendrils of Chaos that remained. Alexiel too fought, when they reached too close, but she fought for defence. Defence for Ceres who would live to take back her kingdom. No-one saw who the unnamed brother fought for, or what he fought, or what happened. The Chaos had never touched Alexiel; the Queen had assumed it had not touched her brother as well._

_She felt it only when his blood stained her hands, ended in a fit of madness that could have destroyed a world and touched no-one._

_But that wasn't true. Because Alexiel stood in her shadow, and she had seen. The one thing more precious than her Queen._

_And the tendrils of Chaos that claimed Ceres for itself._

_She, Ceres, remembered only a burning white: anger, jealousy, bitterness…and the face of Alexiel shattered into rage and despair, turning upon her. But Alexiel recalled. The land burnt and shrivelled beneath their feet, and Ceres was strong. Alexiel came after._

_But her brother's sword lay at the feet of his corpse, glowing the spirit that had ebbed from his body since the dawn of time. And it came to Alexiel's hand; one as they should be, with all the power of the world between them, and Chaos stood no chance at all. Ceres' powers were closed to it; it could never understand the value of life and growth. _

_And Ceres' eyes opened, not as a Queen but as a friend thankful for release, and Alexiel's own eyes glistened as strength and spirit ebbed from her. The blood of her Queen and dearest friend stained her blade. Her brother's corpse lay upon a dying breeze._

_But it left the power dulled and the body broken…or rather, it was responsible. And the tendril continued on, slithering across the shining blade like snake about to sink its poisonous fangs. It knew no limitations._

_She smiled: a bitter smile. Then she turned the almost blackened blade upon herself and pierced the light of her heart._

_The sword fell and shattered as red blood fell upon it, before turning gold in the blazing sun. The earth crumbled away beneath her as the tendril of Chaos twisted and howled…as it had for an age, but she had always driven it away when her brother failed, able to because he let her collect her reserves while he depleted his strength and spirit upon a hallowed ground._

_She fell, soundlessly, sword through chest and life ebbing away. No flower greeted her. No bird squawked. Instead, the world was empty, and death._

_She cried, then closed her eyes and bid the darkness she wore as her armour to cover her eyes. It did so, the eyes of the soul as well as of the physical body, erecting chains that bound that pain…as well as the light within the deepest chambers of her heart that had at least made sure the death of the two most precious people in her world had not been in vain._

_Years later, after the Moon Kingdom was destroyed at the end of its first millennium and Tokyo arose to house the Princess Serenity, scientists from Earth looked out to space and discovered a planet, small and dead but drifting still._

_Perhaps…there existed still an opportunity for life._

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><p><span>Post Authors Notes<span>

This is just explaining the derivatives of this legend.

Alexiel's brother is Lucifer, the one who becomes Natanatsuya (who was reincarnated as Kouji). In Angel Sanctuary, Rosiel is Alexiel's twin, but Setsuna, Alexiel's reincarnation (male btw) has a sister Sara who is the reincarnation of Gabriel instead. And Lucifer is reincarnated in Sakuya (in a sense). And Lucifer does kind of lose it.

Now, about that. Lucemon in the Digital World became mad with power and was sealed in the Dark Area…and you guys know that story. Lucifer in Angel Sanctuary was madly in love with Alexiel but it seemed to be unrequited or unreturned in every count, but he's still protective and somewhat…I'd say he was insane. He totally switches sides, and then switches back and confuses me! Anyway, case in point, perfectly legitimate. In this case, it's Chaos (from Sailor Moon's final arc with Galaxia) responsible.

Ceres you should already know about from the previous chapters. The only additional note is that Ceres is a God in a sense, and that's how it relates to Angel Sanctuary. Regarding her relationship with Alexiel, Alexiel was branded a fallen angel for loving someone more than God (her brother). In this case, Ceres is Zoe and Alexiel is Koichi (who since Setsuna's a male reincarnation works out perfectly fine), therefore it goes to the difference between a best friend and a twin brother if such things ever came down to it. For Alexiel, her love for her brother was stronger than her love for Queen Ceres, and we all saw how the first name at Koichi's lips was Koji.

As for the ending, Ceres keeping Alexiel's brother from enjoying her company as much as he needed led to him being lonely and bitter, and that made it easier for the sliver of Chaos he contracted (like a disease) to grow and infect him. Because Alexiel's love for him was unconditional, she failed to see this, but Ceres, harbouring a degree of jealousy about how she always had to get Alexiel from her brother's company, led to a sharper eye. Perhaps too sharp as she acted a little hastily. And Alexiel's brother was being overprotective. So between the shock of losing her brother and the fact she loved him more than even Ceres, that led her to fight, and in Ceres' own shocked state of the aftermath, let the Chaos infect her.

Alexiel defeats Ceres using the true Natanatsuya blade, but the Chaos tries to infect her too. Chaos can only be defeated by the Light of Hope, and she knows the only hope she has left would be buried deep within her heart so she stabs herself with the same sword, effectively committing suicide. It's also a form of ritual suicide, so in essence it could also be considered dying for repentance of a sin. The sin in this case would be linking back to Angel Sanctuary.

Where does Ceres, Celestial Legend fit in? The source of Ceres' crazy wrath as I didn't concern myself with the Ceremonial Robe for this story. Hence why it hit Koichi and not anyone else. Ceres unconsciously recognised him as Alexiel. But she didn't have her memories, hence she didn't remember the end bit when she was free from Chaos.

I know the story goes fast, but it's told like a legend you tell someone, so not terribly detailed.

If you're wondering where the others fit in, watch and wait. They'll get larger roles soon.

But you may also have gathered where Zoe's and Koichi's cards/spirits fit in, and why they're the only two who can see them. If not, Zoe's are the "birds" that aren't birds by our human labels, and Koichi's make up the army Alexiel commanded without the gift of life and revitalisation Ceres provided. Lucifer had no-one save Alexiel, so no spirits for him and the others didn't get roles in this world.


	41. Approaching Death

Author's Notes

Sorry for the delay. Got stuck halfway through the chapter. Mainly because half the characters have taken temporary leave of their minds.

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><p><p>

AutoCycle

It's set on automatic. It's set on random. They can't get it off, and it sends them to places they know little or nothing about. 20 cycles, then they're home free...if they're still alive.

Digimon & Anime x-overs

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 40 <span>

Approaching Death

Zoe's head decided to make things deceptively simple for her. First of all, it failed to steal the memories of the last half-hour or so before her consciousness faded away, leaving her with every clear detail of the events that had transpired – and thensome as they had gotten rather murky during the actual events. And _then_, her brain had to wake up before her body, and her ears before sight – and Koji had screamed, _screamed_ – leaving her with the burden of listening to _every _word exchanged somewhere above her, leaving her form shivering and cold like ice.

She didn't bother forcing her eyes open after that. Whatever the scene was, she didn't want to see it. But the warmth won out in the end; somebody was carrying her, holding her…

'Zoe! Zoe? Are you awake?'

…calling her. So gently, after…

Her eyes brimmed with tears.

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><p>Zoe trembled slightly in JP's hold, and it was that that brought his attention back to her. No-one else saw the movement, and it was little wonder. Everybody's minds were reeling…except for Koichi, going through who knew what but at least blissfully unaware.<p>

Then her eyes snapped open and her arms immediately came up to brace herself, attempting to push out of the other's hold. JP tried to support her; she attempted to push him away. In terms of physical strength though, he was stronger, and it wasn't particularly difficult to pin her safely down.

The small commotion brought everyone but Koji around.

'What happened?' Takuya asked immediately.

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, trying to squirm out of JP's hold.

'Stop it!' she cried. 'Let go! Get away from me.'

The wind shuddered at her voice. Kurai rubbed at the goosebumps crawling along her skin. JP however did not follow that command, leaving the girl to stare at him with wide eyed with tears glimmering at the edges and body trembling still.

'No,' was all he said, holding the girl tight. When she stopped struggling, he added: 'I know you hate being alone. That you need someone when you're hurt, and confused, and feeling guilty…not like Koji and Koichi who need time on their own. Not like Takuya who needs to cool down first. Not like me who needs to think things through. So don't even think you can convince me otherwise.'

Zoe sagged into the thunder's hold, and JP gave an internal sigh of relief. That relief was short lived though as it was just a small victory upon a pedestal, but the next hurdle was simpler to handle as he just held the girl close as she attempted to recollect her tears.

'I – wasn't –' she choked finally. 'I didn't –'

'It's not your fault.' She froze. It was monotone statement, almost flat, but it came from Koji and, perhaps, he was the one person who could convince her. But he wasn't looking at her, even when she lifted her head to look at him. He was looking at his hands instead; his bare hands.

Zoe looked away from him, as well as she could while still tightly within JP's hold, and trembled again. Worse than before, so that the slight pause meant nothing at all in the end, and the tears tumbled. JP held her tighter, and this time she didn't have the mental fortitude to try and break away. She'd always lacked the physical strength for that.

She couldn't say how long she'd stayed like that: how long everyone else had just watched instead. But it was only when she'd recovered herself enough to try and push away again did a new voice speak.

'This ain't the time to be feeling sorry for yourself.'

She blinked at the girl: tiny but fierce. 'You've got to go out there and save him.'

_Save him_? she thought blankly, those words a better brake in the tale of truth than forgiveness could ever be.

'Are you _insane_?' Surprisingly, it was Koji saying that; arguing against that. _Why_? she wondered. Why in the world would Koji turn away from anything that could save his precious brother? Their precious friend?

If only she'd known before that would happen she'd have never touched that box. Whatever it had done. She trembled as she remembered that blank sensation: that viral, jealous feeling that thirsted for undiluted blood. She didn't know where it had come from, or why, except its story lay in that wrinkled hand inside that box.

But none of that mattered now, because the words "save him" were echoing loudly in her mind, eclipsing the rest. And she repeated them aloud, along with the burning question that welled inside her. 'How?'

She sounded like a desperate, suicidal woman grasping at the last straws of hope…even to her own ears.

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><p>Koji could hardly keep his voice steady, and most of him was amazed he could manage it at all. But maybe too many things had happened that he simply couldn't handle anything anymore. He wondered if he'd snapped under all that. He might have; he said the thing an decent person <em>should<em> say, but it sounded so flat in his ears – like he was considering it.

And he couldn't lie to himself about that. He _was_ considering it, despite how cruel and crazy and impossible it all was. Stabbing someone through the heart – was as good as killing them with his own hands no matter what the intention – and did he even believe enough in magic and afterlives and all that stuff to even _think_ it would work? No. That was his brother; he was the one who believed in what he saw and that was it. He was the one who hadn't believed those devices around their wrists would do so much, cause so much –

'You _are_ Lucifer.' Kurai stared at him in awe – or rather, at his hands which now held a sword. He didn't know how that had appeared, or when. But it was a sword with symbols on the hilt, symbols he couldn't understand…except the one that looked like the number four: the symbol of death. 'You can do it; you can bring Alexiel back! Then she can save us!' Her voice rose in her excitement, with the possibility that she, at least, believed in.

'Stop that!' Takuya yelled at her. 'Can't you see what this is doing – Koji!'

Koji looked down to find he'd been gripping the sword's hilt tight, so the engravings dug in to his palm. Takuya was still looking at him, and because he'd left his last sentence half-finished, Kurai was staring as well. Moreover, the exclamation had dragged the eyes of the others…and he saw even Zoe was staring at him – Zoe, looking more hopeless but otherwise just as desperate as Kurai did…

He felt for her; really, he did because he knew just like he knew Koichi had no control over what had happened with his vectors – or worse, because that power had come so suddenly without warning, and at least Koichi had known a little about his vectors at that point. And he knew it was just a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time – or maybe she'd been in the wrong place in the wrong time. And he didn't blame her at all.

But while he should have been an inconsolable mess like Zoe had been before that little flicker of hope, he couldn't be.

Hell, maybe he really had cracked somewhere along the line. Maybe Koichi had already had his share of that: that almost unresponsive doll.

And maybe Zoe hadn't quite cracked yet but was getting there, would get there the moment that shred of hope dangled in front of her was swallowed up. But for now the tears had frozen again, the lips parted, dry, trying to ask: "Is it true? Can you bring him back?'

He opened his mouth. His voice was steady, mechanic: explaining what Adam Kadamon had told and Kurai had filled in. Detached somehow, like he wasn't the one with the sword in hand – despite his shaking hands. And once he was done Zoe was throwing herself forward, forcing JP to lean as well. 'I'll do it!' she cried, the tears coming free again. 'I'll do it; I'll do it.' The words descended into mumbles.

Kurai frowned. 'I'm having doubts now,' she muttered, though nobody listened to her. They were more concerned about their friends: Zoe's willingless, and the sword that had appeared in Koji's hand. And then ther was Koichi's still body lain carefully on his back on the roof.

'Do it!' Zoe grabbed the sword, and Koji might have thrust forward at the same time – or maybe not. He told himself afterwards he hadn't, but the truth was it could have been either one. But it didn't matter; that didn't change the outcome. Didn't change the blood that splattered on to his hands and shirt, or the way he clung to the sword on reflex, and Kurai had to hit his wrists to get him to let go so the sword could fall with Zoe's suddenly limp form into JP's arms.

'The sword needs to stay in,' Kurai yelled at him. 'You'll just kill her otherwise!'

'Just kill her,' Koji repeated, before he started to laugh.


End file.
